Demons Actually Do Live In Dark Places
by Blue Lone Wolf 2574
Summary: Allen comes down with a weird illness and everyone is now presented with a war that's more serious then the one they're already fighting! Possible KanXAll. Rated T to be safe and I hope everyone likes this story. TY!
1. Chapter 1: Allen's Bad Day Gets Worse

Yet another project to worry about. Sometimes I wonder if I can actually help myself working with so many stories at once and I think my muse would agree that my means of using up good time is insane. But I don't think I care that much anymore. I'm bored and dammit I'm doin' somethin' about it. Even if I am takin' on five other stories at one time which is crazy and possibly stressful but… aw fuck it. Not sure on pairings yet but I'm thinkin' of gettin' Allen and Kanda together. I don't own D. Gray-Man or any characters and/or content and what have you. Enjoy please!

"iii" speech

_iii_ thought

"_iii_" radio transmission

Chapter 1: Allen's Bad Day Gets Worse

He thought it'd just be a regular day of dealin' with Komui's strange ways, Kanda's pissy attitude and Miranda's constant attempts at taking her life especially since she always thought everyone hated her was stressing but Linali's presence and positive outlook seemed to fix what ailed him. But today her being there for him wasn't going to be enough since he didn't know just how bad his day was goin' to get. His day started like this: he'd gotten up like he always did, getting breakfast and sitting in his usual spot with Aleister and Rabi but was short since Rabi had already eaten and Aleister didn't really have a need to eat anyway. Timcampi had been swirling around all day and had been reported to be acting strangely for the past few days. But Allen was too down in the dumps to notice his master's golden creation swirling over his head on its little wings, the white haired boy oddly tired even if it was only nine in the morning. "Good morning boys! Ready for our now mission?" Linali asked happily as she seemed to pop out of nowhere, Rabi smiling in response and Aleister's complexion brightening. "Ready when you are Linali." Rabi said as he sat up in his seat to face the girl better even as she turned to the oldest of the group.

"Aleister?"

"I concur. As soon as everything's set I'll be ready." The Romanian said kindly with a smile, something that happened more often now that he wasn't so depressed anymore. His positive response got an even bigger smile out of Linali.

"That's good! Allen?" the boy didn't respond, staring at his food as he quietly ate away, seeming unaware of his surroundings. "Allen-kun?"

"Huh?" he blinked and looked at the Chinese girl in question only to find that all three of his friends were staring at him strangely. "Did you say something Linali? I'm sorry I was thinking about something."

_I wonder what's wrong with him._ "Are you all right Allen? You don't look so good man. Maybe you should stay here and rest up. We'll tell Komui that you're not feelin' well and that you need some time off to get up to speed."

"No, no I'm fine really! I just feel… unusually tired for some reason. I don't know what it is but I'm sure it's nothing really." Sadly this wasn't all that convincing to his friends, their expressions becoming even more thoughtful as Linali left to speak with her brother on the matter, leaving Rabi and Aleister in charge just in case Allen decided to beat feet in the hopes of getting away clean. She soon returned with the black haired, coffee addicted man that was her brother, adjusting his glasses as he gave the teen a good look over before straightening to say. "I don't see anything wrong with him other than just plain fatigue or nausea from something he ate. But just to be sure I'll have Kanda go with you on today's mission in Allen's stead. Allen, the meantime, why don't you back to your room and rest up for a bit while I brief everyone else of the mission. I'll see if I can't call on you later to see just what might be wrong with you. Kanda! Get over here!"

Allen, seeing that he wasn't needed, got up slowly and walked out of the room as if he were a dead man walking. While passing a miffed Kanda on his way out, he barely noticed the older teen mutter something in his direction, the rest of the world nothing more than a misty blur muffled by unseen barriers. Kanda, confused on why the boy hadn't shot back at him, stopped to turn and watch the boy leave with a sleepy shuffle in his step. Though he hated to admit it he felt a pang of concern for the other exorcist as he vanished around a corner, giving his 'team' an inquiring look when he finally reached the table. Hesitant but feeling the need to move on, Komui began his briefing. "You'll be headed to Exeter in Devon so be prepared for really big crowds and shipping details. It's been reported some kind of activity has been going on over there that's alleged to being Akuma. Whether or not the Earl or the Noahs are involved in this but we can't take our chances with them or anyone. That's all for now. God's speed and good luck."

"Thanks brother we will." Linali said with a reassuring smile as Rabi and Aleister moved to follow her out of the room, both of which had to drag Kanda with them when he tried to go in a different direction. A good half hour later they were all on a boat under the church, ready to set off on their new mission as they made last minute supply checks. Kanda didn't bother assisting since he knew full well they were ready to set off and the fact that the other three were taking their time was trying on his patience. "Can we go now? You guys are so slow you know that?"

"Well you could at least help Kanda-kun. Then we just might get going faster." Linali pointed out as the older teen just stayed put and rolled his eyes. Luckily he didn't have to wait any longer for them to set off, the white clothed helper (whose real station I can't recall. Sorry) began to steer them into the river's natural pull and off ward to their unknown fates.

Allen didn't know if he was dizzy or just plain tired. But either one was making him disoriented to the point where he almost got lost three to four times in the past twenty minutes, Timcampi fluttering over his head like a bird of prey getting ready to swoop down if he fell. He sighed in relief when he finally found his room, falling onto his bed even though he'd been there some half hour beforehand getting ready for the new day and a new mission. Thoughts of how they'd unsuccessfully tried to find his master, General Cross made him groan and roll over to face the wall, shutting his eyes and letting his mind wander, Timcampi landing on his pillow and folding its golden wings and watched with invisible eyes. Little did either know just how exciting but truly worse things were going to get. As his breathing evened out to that of sleep, something under his bed shifted, detaching itself from the underside of the frame to the floor with a noiseless shuffle of cloth and limbs. The figure, cloaked in rags and a horrible, overpowering stench, slowly made its way out into the open, its face hidden by a hood as its clawed hands stretched to grab its sleeping target. Its smile, if seen, was the most sinister anyone could ever think to be.

Komui had been walking the halls of the Dark Religious headquarters with Allen's medical records in hand; flipping through the pages inside the manila folder he'd put together himself with some assistance from the Asian branch and Allen's own personal knowledge of what made him tick. His left hand was an interesting thing to behold considering its ability to become not only a claw but also a gun and a sword of some kind that he'd yet to identify. _A true medical marvel if I say so myself. It's amazing what the Innocence is capable of becoming when it finds the right owner._ He thought as he finally reached the top of the stairs to Allen's floor, heading straight for the boy's door. Just as he was about to turn the handle, the door exploded in a flurry of splintered wood, pieces of metal and stone turned to dust or flying rocks.

--**_Exeter, Devon Province, England_**—

The trip hadn't taken long but to Kanda it was the most boring thing on earth. The train ride had been typical and mundane, Rabi having to keep Aleister in the cart with them to make sure he wouldn't wander around and get himself into a bad position with card dealing stowaways like last time. Linali took the time to enjoy the scenery, her eyes darting to see all of the trees and fields of green grass passing them by. Getting out of the station was surprisingly easy since the place was practically empty, not even a conductor to regulate things from departing trains to incoming ones. The entire platform was devoid of life in every direction, the air dead still while the train was the only thing they knew to be making any kind of noise. "Spread out. We could be dealing with a lockdown of some kind. Linali, go with Rabi to check out front. Crowley you're with me." Kanda growled, fingering his Mugen as he scanned the visible area.

"Right. Linali-chan?" Rabi inquired, pulling out his hammer as he waited for the girl to follow him. She nodded; suddenly uneasy as her shoes clicked on the marble flooring as she stayed as close as possible to the one eyed red head. They got as far as the lobby before a figure came out from behind a line of chairs, sharp teeth bared and claws extended to grab anything within reach. "GROW!" Rabi yelled as soon as he saw the thing, activating his fire seal to send it back, scorched and screeching. Much to his surprise, it got back up glaring and hissing like the snake it seemed to be, rising to its feet and pouncing at them again. This time Linali decided to give it what for as she met it halfway, her Dark Boots activated and ready for action. Its eyes widened when it saw that its fate was now sealed as the Chinese girl sent it flying back again, crushing bone and smashing flesh. If fell with a thud, nothing more than a pile of useless limbs, its empty eyes staring at the ceiling in shock of what'd just occurred. Just when they thought it was all over, a series of screeches and screams nearly deafened them as almost ten more jumped from all sorts of hiding spots, their mismatched eyes filled with insanity and rage. Their faces were stitched together and misshapen, their clothes nothing more than a bunch of rags sewn together and their hair a bit long, unkempt and greasy. Rabi managed to take a few of them down before saying. "There's too many! We need to head back!"

"Can't argue there!" Linali said as she took down two more, only for them to get back up with screeches of anger, scrambling to keep up with the two teens as they ran in the same direction they'd come.

Kanda and Aleister weren't exactly having the best of luck either, the Romanian frustrated to find his opponents kept getting back up while Kanda, though straight faced, was starting to extremely annoyed at how his kept multiplying whenever he cut them again and again. Needless to say there was no end to them at all. The signal that things weren't going to get any better was when Linali came into view at a desperate sprint with Rabi not far behind, unleashing his fire seal as many times as possible. "There's no end to them! We need to pull back and regroup!" the red head shouted over the din of hisses, growls and screeches, setting off another fire seal spell. This statement only made Kanda glare at him in rage and indignation.

"And be unsuccessful in our mission? I think not! We stand our ground!"

"We don't even know what they are Kanda! Or where they're coming from for that matter. What we need to do is get out of here and come up with a plan!"

Deep in Kanda's mind, he knew Rabi had a point in what he said and the thought of unrelenting opponents didn't sound too pleasing in his mind. Growling in frustration he sliced two more of the creatures before heading back toward the train with his teammates not far behind.

--**_Back at Headquarters_**—

Komui managed to pick himself up off the floor, papers still floating to the ground amidst dust fogging his vision. He coughed and spat, ridding the stuff of his mouth and throat as he wiped his glasses, thankful he'd closed his eyes in time to avoid getting the stuff in his eyes. Glasses back on his face, the man turned to find a horrifying surprise, his jaw dropped at what he was seeing: a tall figure, dressed in dirty rags and an even dirtier cloak, its mismatched eyes surveying all within its range. When they fell on Komui, it grinned a sinister smile full of yellowed teeth that looked sharper than spearheads as it stepped out of what remained of Allen's doorway. Much to the man's horror, Allen hung limp as a doll under one of the creature's arms, completely dead to the world as the thing walked closer. "Allen! Allen wake up! Allen!"

"He can't hear you. Thanks to me he'll serve a better purpose for my master and me. I'll be greatly rewarded for my latest catch."

"Who and what are you? And what do you want with Allen?" the Chinese man demanded, getting to his feet while hundreds of exorcists gathered with their weapons in hand and prepared for a fight. "Oh this little one? He'll be the newest addition to my master's collection. This boy's skills and abilities will make a marvelous impression on his Lordship as well as a useful foot soldier. If you want him back, fighting me is your only option now isn't it?"

The man gritted his teeth, weighing his choices on killing this creature and getting General Cross's apprentice back only to find that there wasn't much variety to choose from and knew there was only one thing he could actually do. Stabbing a finger in the creature's direction with a look of rage on his face, Komui yelled loud enough for all to hear him. "ATTACK!"

As the crowd surged forward in an onslaught of weaponry and battle cries, the creature only grinned as it raised a hand of its own.

--**_Exeter, England_**—

Getting back on the train was easy. Getting it started soon enough to leave the oncoming army of living corpses behind was another issue entirely as Linali, using her Dark Boots, leaped ahead to the engine all the while trying to avoid getting jumped by some more of the creatures who were taking inhuman leaps in her direction, more than half falling back to the ground or onto the roof of the cars with screeches of frustration or dismay, some of them getting back up to try again. Luckily she dodged them all as a few started to fight each other while other kept coming despite various disagreements. Finally reaching the engines, Linali was horrified to find the crew under attack, fending the creatures off with shovels and large pieces of lumber used to heat the train's main oven with amazing accuracy. Not wanting to have more people get hurt by the creatures, Linali chose then to take some action of her own by kicking the things away, successfully getting the men's attention. "We need to get out of here! Now!"

"But what about the passengers?" one of them asked, being the goodhearted man that he was, he hated to endanger people in this unusual manner.

"Let my friends and I worry about them! Just get this thing started before any more of those things get here!" Linali shouted as she sent a few more away with some powerful kicks, her fallen targets hissing and coughing up blood, holding themselves as other took over for them.

"Right you are Miss! C'mon boys!" the head engineer called as he started to pile wood into the fires and pulled various levers into different positions. The others didn't hesitate to help get things going as Linali kept the stinking things at bay, all of who were furious that their prey was being defiant.

--**_With Kanda_**—

He couldn't help but feel that something was very wrong with their situation. No matter how much he cut them down, they either multiplied or got back up for more even if he did use some of his best moves. Sure they bled and screeched when in pain but that still didn't stop them from getting back up. Hell he'd even cut a few of them in half! But somehow the top half just howled at him while the bottom half stumbled around as if dizzy from being spun around too many times. And to make things even worse, the top half either reconnected with its missing half or simply grew back a new one, rags and all even if the old one was still walking around. The bottom halves, though defiant in themselves, even grew back their top halves or just continued on their rampage as kicking nuisances that didn't know when to quit. Blood stained the marble floors, countless boots creating tracks of red spreading in all directions, more and more being added to the dark colored puddle, constantly smudged and stepped in. slicing up a few more of the things Kanda made a shot for one of the cars, jumping up the steps and slamming the door behind him while Rabi and Aleister managed to get in at the other end. "This is insane! They just keep coming! What are they anyway?"

"Nothing I've ever seen but my guess is that they be zombies, ghouls or just some creatures that were created by some magician by using some tropic voodoo ritual I read about in my grandfather's library. That is before I burnt it down anyway."

"Well whatever they are they're relentless and annoying. Whoever or whatever they are, they don't know when to give up. We'll have to check the rest of the train to make sure there aren't any on board." Kanda growled as he watched one of the creatures smearing its own bloody hands on a nearby window, making him stare at the thing, making a face at its actions.

"Roger that."

"Understood."

They separated, Rabi and Aleister heading toward the back while Kanda went to the front, hoping to meet Linali half way there, killing two birds with one stone. Much to his satisfaction he did meet her, coming up behind one of the things hell-bent on causing the girl damage. He tossed his opponent out of a window as Linali disemboweled her own out another as well, its screech cut short when she kicked it in the chin. Looking out the window to make sure the thing stayed down, yet another shock was brought to light: it'd tumbled on the ground, left in the dust of the moving train, only it jumped to its feet, bleeding from the mouth and started to run. Not away from the train and certainly not in the opposite direction but after it. Another interesting development was that it didn't come after the thing on two legs either. No sir this creature was on all fours and catching up with each step taken. Linali's jaw dropped, her eyes wide as the creature's form began to shift from humanoid to animalistic, its rags replaced with fur and its face, though distorted enough, stretched to give way to a snout. "Kanda. I think our problem just got worse."

Looking out the window himself, his own expression changed a bit to rightfully accommodate the appropriate emotion before it shifted to all out annoyance. "Don't these things ever quit? What the hell is that? And when did it get there?"

"It's the one I threw out! One second it was a human then next it was that thing! I don't even know how it did that and without batting an eye." Linali explained almost desperately, hoping that the older teen wasn't too mad with her on the subject.

"This is getting ridiculous! I don't care how you do it but just kill it and fast. I'll be heading back toward the front to see if there are more of these things." he growled as he waved her explanation away, pulling himself into the aisle and down to the end of the train car.

"Be careful Kanda-kun!" she called as he opened the car door.

"Whatever."

Traveling the precarious but short distance between cars, he opened the door to find he didn't have to do much searching since there were a good eight of the things turning to stare at him as he entered. A few of them hissed as they all just gave the teen razor sharp grins, flexing clawed hands in anticipation. Readying his blade and taking on an offensive stance, Kanda didn't blink as they leaped from their positions, cackling as they traveled through the air at him.

--**_Back at HQ_**—

The battle for Allen's latent form had turned bloody as one after another, exorcist after exorcist, they fell to the creature's mighty abilities and seemed to be slapping them away like flies. Komui, who was hiding behind what remained of a wall, didn't know what to do anymore, all of his comrades had been taken down and calling for back up sounded almost impossible. But since Kanda, his sister and the other two were closest; his best bet would be recalling them from the field and come help out. _I need to get to the communication center! But getting past that thing will be a hell of a feat. Need to distract it somehow… but how?_

Looking around, he saw a good sized piece of stone that looked firm enough to give a good throw, maybe even his something with. Willing to take the chance he picked it up and tested its weight, hoping it was strong enough and hard enough to most likely do some damage when thrown well enough. Deciding it was the only thing he _could_ do at the moment, Komui picked himself up off the floor, ran around the remainder of the wall and headed straight for the creature that had his back to the approaching man. It'd just started turning to see who was behind him when he took a well thrown stone in the face, making it lose its grip on Allen in the attempt to shield its face from more damage. He didn't need a better opportunity. On his way past the creature, Komui quickly grabbed the teen, swiftly got a good grip on his limp form and bolted down the stairs and toward the radio room some floors down. The remaining exorcists, taking the man's cue, pulled back as well in order to distance themselves from the thing all the while getting their fallen to the infirmary for medical assistance.

Timcampi flew over Komui's head as he ran through the halls, stopping in horror when he heard the creature's angered howls resounding like thunder off the walls but found it all the more reason to move faster. Its loud sounds of rage filled the corridors as Komui finally reached the radio room, putting the sleeping teen on a nearby couch before reaching for the receiver. "Operator! Get me Kanda and his team. Stat!"

"_Yes sir._" The voice confirmed as he waited impatiently for any of the voices he knew all too well to answer. He sighed in relief when Linali's voice came a bit scratchy but clearly over the line. "_Nii-san? Nii-san is everything all right?_"

"NO! You need to get back here pronto! Something's wrong with Allen and some strange _thing_ is attacking the castle from the inside out! I need you to collect your team and get back here stat! Do you understand me?"

"_Yes but-._"

"No buts! Just get here! It wants Allen! I don't know why but he needs our help. Hurry! You-." He never got to say more as the phone was blown to a million pieces, the receiver still in hand and quite literally useless on almost every count. Turning to the doorway he saw the reason for the interruption: the creature was back, and this time, it was really pissed. Its face was streaming with its own blood; its torso and limbs poked full of bloody bullet holes, cuts, and burns of all degrees. Needless to say the creature had been through hell and now it wanted payback. "I shall kill you slowly for what you've done to me." It hissed in its fury as it slowly but surely stepped forward on what remained of its legs. Suddenly it surged forward and knocked Komui across the room and into the large bookcase beyond, books and papers falling to the floor as the Chinese man stared dizzily at his attacker. "But I don't have that kind of time today. I'll be sure to put you and your group on my master's 'to kill' list when I get back with my new prize."

Komui tried to protest but found that he was too disoriented and the creature had probably broken something of his, and it felt like something important. He didn't notice the creature leaving with the teen under his arm as a strange item fell out from under the thing's cloak, rolling across the room, almost by accident to be stopped by one of Komui's boots, lying on its side and a bit invisible at first but it was there. Waiting.

--**_Exeter, England_**—

"Nii-san? Nii-san answer me! NII-SAN!" she got nothing but static, no matter what channel she used. The other three found her sitting in one of the chairs where Kanda had left her, her eyes red from crying, and her throat sore from calling. They'd heard the transmission and had blocked out her cries while trying not to cry from the pain themselves. Kanda, on the other hand, managed to keep a straight face through it all and wisely kept his mouth shut to avoid upsetting the girl more. He knew what it was like to lose family. All too well. So instead he wordlessly got her to get up and lead her to their original seats, before they got off and entered the war zone that'd been their mission that day. A mission without Allen. And a day that turned out all to wrong. In a cool voice he was the first who spoke. "When we get to the next station, we'll do whatever we can to get home and figure out what the hell's goin' on. Got it?"

The other two males nodded but Linali didn't respond, simply being in her own mind, and her own world. And they all respected that.

Linali couldn't help but almost faint at the static that came through her flapping bat-like communication golem, the thought of her brother, her only sibling, gone without her being there to help him in any way crushed all that she knew of things. Her sight became unfocused and her mind completely blank even when Rabi tried to shake her out of it. They'd managed to rid the train of all the creatures and the conductor said that they'd be able to get back to their starting point in about an hour depending on the tracks and routes they took and whether they stopped for actual passengers or not. He also said he'd pick them up some food from one of the luxury cars on his way back from the front as the four settled once again into their compartment. Rabi kept giving Linali worried glances; Aleister sat quietly, trying not to say anything while Kanda just stayed where he was in his usual cold hearted attitude. But deep inside, the thought of somehow losing his annoying boss Komui and the new exorcist Allen (or Bean Sprout in his mind) was actually very disturbing. _Things like this shouldn't bother me so why now? What were those things and how'd they get into HQ? And what do they want with Bean Sprout anyway? Well whatever it is it'd better be worth my time or I'm gonna be pissed._ He thought to himself as he let his thoughts wander, allowing himself to doze off as the hills, trees and fields of grass started to become familiar in all too many ways.

Jiminy Christmas that took me a while! And it's actually a little longer than most first chapters are. And that I'm proud of! And no notes either! That's a shocker. But in the mean time I really hope you guys like this while I make moves to get chapter 2 up for ya. Speaking of which, here's what's happening next:

Next chapter:

Chapter 2: Extra Help Arrives: Finding Allen

Kanda, Linali, Rabi and Aleister finally get back to HQ to find the place in shambles, Allen gone and Komui in bad shape. Like everyone else caught in the crossfire, he's not doing too well and it's up to the last four to go and get help. But from who? Certainly not the Millennium Earl, let alone the Noahs! Can they find the kind of assistance they need from the most unlikely source, the only source they may have that can help find Allen and make things right? Or will they make attempts on contacting the Asian branch for help? Find out in:

_**Chapter 2: Extra Help Arrives: Finding Allen!!**_


	2. Chapter 2: Extra Help Arrives

Another chapter from another story to set off the New Year! 2007 here I come baby! I'm really impressed with the number of hits my other stories are getting but how about we knock the number of reviews up a notch huh? Is it too much to ask? Okay so last year wasn't my year but I guess if people are kind enough and my stars are right, they'll come in like the Great Flood! Or at least so I hope…. Anyway, I don't own D. Gray-Man and lay no claim to contents or characters. Enjoy!

"iii" speech

_iii_ thought

"_iii_" radio transmission

Chapter 2: Extra Help Arrives: Finding Allen

The trip back had been rushed but they didn't care if they lost their things on the way. All that mattered was getting back in time to help find the creature and hopefully Allen while assisting in the clean up. Much to their relief the underground river was still flowing unhindered by the new disaster that occurred some time after they left. Kanda, being stubborn as always, climbed the stairs first, his sword at hand should another one of the creatures decide to play 'pop goes the weasel'. Luckily the place was clear of unwanted life forms, but not of unwanted debris covering various parts of the floor. On the alert for anything dangerous, they tread through their own halls with caution and had wary eyes on everything around them. "Where should we go? I mean, where is everybody?" Rabi murmured almost to himself as he toed a piece of stone, the thing clicked against the floor as it rolled away.

"Let's try the infirmary. Guessing from the damage I'd say they're all gathered there before they try to retaliate in any way. Let's move." The older teen surmised as he scanned the hall for anything alive only to find nothing, walking forward again.

They could only nod as Kanda once again led the way, this time taking a different route, heading straight toward the only place where life could possibly still exist. Only left now was the hope that there were actually people they could talk to when they got there.

Komui found himself staring at the ceiling of his own infirmary, his vision a little blurry for lack of his glasses to assist his ability to confirm what was clear and what wasn't. Thankfully someone noticed that he was awake and a blurry figure came out of the corner of his eye, kindly placing the required item on his face. Blinking to adjust to the change Komui recognized the person to be none other than River Wenham, a faithful employee, accomplished scientist and good friend. And he was coated with dust and what appeared to be soot from what he could tell. In other words he didn't look so good either, considering the circumstances. "Welcome back Lee-san. We thought you were really gone for a while there!"

"How long was I out?" he asked, his voice raspy and dry.

"Only an hour or so. And that thing's nowhere to be found and neither is Allen. My guess from the way we found it tracked you down and took him back. Am I right?" the man sounded concerned, hoping that what he was asking was the wrong but his expression became grim when Komui nodded sadly.

"Yeah. I managed to get Linali on the line and recall her team. They should be coming in soon to help." He mumbled as he tried to move his oddly tired limbs, their life having been drained by the spur of the long past moment.

"Hmm we could use a few extra hands to get things back together if we're goin' to get Walker-san back from that thing." River mused, rubbing his chin with an affirming nod to Komui's actions.

"I should be getting up to start operations. People are probably in more need of help than me right now." The Chinese man said as he tried to sit up, only to have a hand gently push him back down onto the hospital cot even when he tried to protest.

"You're not goin' anywhere. You've only had so little time to rest and you need your energy in case that creature comes back again. Don't worry. We've got things under control." Wenham said, leaving no room for argument, making the man lie back down with a tired sigh as he let sleep take over once again, barely aware of the onlookers staring at him with worry. Even if they knew him to be a lazy bum, they couldn't help but feel guilty about not being with him when he was attacked. The only thing they could do now was wait for extra help to arrive.

Much to their relief they didn't have to wait long as Kanda stomped into the room, looking as miffed as ever. Linali, Rabi and Aleister weren't far behind, the girl glancing around for her older sibling while Rabi was looking for someone else. Bookman, his teacher and guide (and by my guess his grandfather too), with his small stature and small eyes but filled to the rim with wisdom and knowledge that came in handy when in a pinch. He was helpful and was always calm or incentive to the situation, making him a prized individual of the Order. Fortunately he didn't have to look long since the old man popped out of thin air and on Rabi's head anyway. "About time you got here you lazy boy! What kept you?"

"You weren't the only ones to get attacked Panda! Itai!" the teen yelped when the man slapped him, a vein pulsing on his bald head as the teen held his head in pain. But what he'd said had caught some attention, Wenham stepping forward with a look of concern on his dust covered face. "Attacked? By who?"

"Some group of… I don't know! Undead lookin' things with nasty teeth and killer claws on their hands. They kept comin' like they had nothin' better to do." The red head exclaimed as almost everyone in the room stared at them with grim expressions. But he didn't stop there. "And they stank too. Really gross smell. It was everywhere! Almost to where you couldn't breathe it was so damn thick."

"Are you sure?"

"How can I not be? These things were like flies to garbage that smelled worse than the garbage did! And no matter how hard you hit 'em they just got back up for more! Just plain relentless! I'm just hoping we managed to get them all before we left Exeter." The boy continued, rubbing his chin in thought as people started to look at each other, their expressions probably signaling the worst. "Well I've no idea just what it was you four took on out there but what we've got here is most likely worse. It took down more than half of our forces without breaking a sweat and it vanished after it attacked Komui in search of Allen. Why it wants him I've no idea but maybe when he wakes up again he'll be able to clear things up for us."

"You mean he's okay?" Linali gasped, her eyes red from crying as she stared in hope at the man, making him smile in reassurance at her. "Yes he's fine. He just needs some rest so he can heal up those bruises he got. Why don't you guys just hang around until he wakes up and you can both brief each other on what's goin' on around here."

"Are you sure no one needs our help first?"

"Well… yeah I guess you can give everyone a hand in things. Go ahead. I won't stop ya." River said with a smirk, walking off to help organize the still scattered files that coated the floor. They didn't need to be told twice as the four moved in separate directions, already taking up various tasks that needed to be done quickly. An hour or two had passed and more than half of the work had been completed, people taking turns getting all the papers back in order, the communications working and the surveillance system online to get a better idea of whether or not the creature was still in the building or on the castle grounds. Linali was taking time off to watch over her brother, who was still asleep while people didn't dare disturb the two.

Seeing that he wasn't going to be waking up any time soon, she decided to leave and lend a hand again. Or she would have if she hadn't noticed something on the floor beneath the bed near her foot, a shiny surface gleaming in the dim light of the large room. Curious she bent down and brought it up to see it better: it was a statue of a dark green, serpentine to be exact, its surface amazingly smooth, unscratched and flawless. Another thing was that it was unusually light in weight and well balanced to avoid getting toppled or broken in any way. But the one thing that caught her attention the most was its shape: it was a dog. A proud German Shepard standing on an invisible base with its head held high and its tail in an upright position.

The statue was accurately detailed to look like a real dog, so much to wear she could swear it was alive in her hands. But there was something odd about it; something that she knew wasn't exactly normal even if it was an inanimate object. This dog had a mask on its face, hiding all but its mouth, eyes and ears from view. Hell even its nose was exposed but only so far to where it acted as a shield rather than a decoration. She brought the little statue a bit closer to her face in the hopes of getting a better look and the more she stared, the more it seemed puzzled her on why such a thing would be on a figurine of a _dog_. Just when she was about to give this query more thought, Aleister came by with a box of first aid supplies. "What do you have there Linali-san?"

"Huh? Oh this? I'm not sure what it's doing here but I found it on the floor and I'm just trying to figure out where it came from."

"It looks amazing! I've never in all my years seen such artisanship before!"

"The problem is I've never seen it around the castle before! Maybe nii-san knows about where it came from. Oh River-san!"

"Hmm? Yes?"

"Do you know where this statue came from? I found it on the floor under my brother's bed. Can you say just what it was doing down there?" she called out to the older man, Aleister politely moving aside to give them both room as he set his load on the floor nearby.

River stared at the statue for a few seconds before his face lit up with recognition of the item, taking it from her as he said. "Oh this? I found that next to Komui-san when I went to find him after that thing chased him to the communications room. Come to think of it, I've never seen this before today either… and why it was on the floor… I could've sworn I put it on the table over there." He said, pointing to the side table next to Komui's bed, where his glasses were sitting, neatly folded and waiting to be used. His look of confusion grew when he looked under the bed, to the table then back to the stone animal in his hand, scratching his head since it was obvious he was at a loss. "Maybe your brother will clear things up for up when he wakes up. In the meantime why don't we get the last couple of things done before we worry about some hunk of rock?"

Linali nodded as he set the item back on the table next to Komui's glasses, Aleister picking his load back up and continuing on his way as the Chinese girl hesitantly walked away. Looking back, she could've sworn it was watching her leave.

Kanda wasn't having the best of days, his arms still aching from swinging his sword around so many times and against so many opponents earlier that day that while he worked to help get things in better shape, his mood deteriorated more and more, just wishing that he could leave to nap somewhere. But the demand for supplies and clothes was still in high gear and it was trying his patience more than it should have. Managing to slip away from things, he found a good spot to sit down and catch his breath and some distance from all the commotion. Staring up at the ceiling high above, he let his mind become clear and his thoughts become nothing more than distant whims that only the world's harsh reality could bring together into a flowing stream of thought. Closing his eyes, he slipped into meditation, everything oddly calm and collected, almost like a pool of water. Letting things drift Kanda imagined himself to be a single ripple in it all, silvery in hue as it stretched and vanished. But something far beyond this vision came into existence, making him squint to see it better, its golden light too bright for his eyes to handle.

Snapping out of his rumination, Kanda actually felt cold sweat running down his face, his hands clammy with what he could only guess to be anxiety. Blinking in his all too honest confusion, he just shook his head, not wanting to believe what his body was making all too clear for his eyes to see. Getting up to reluctantly assist with other matters, a dark blur came from his left, almost too fast for him to raise his blade against, sending him flying across the room and crashing into the infirmary. Coughing heavily and waving dust out of his face, wiping debris of his front, he looked to see his attacker: tall and menacing, a sharp grin on its deformed face, the creature stood in its garb of rags, hair like greasy vines hanging off its head as it mismatched eyes surveyed the room. Komui, who'd just woken up, sat on his cot in horror as its gaze fell on him, making him freeze to the spot in his shock. Its grin widened, its teeth yellow but gleaming in the light as it said. "I'm baaaack! And a brought a few friends of mine! Hope you don't mind."

'Few' was an understatement as what seemed to be hundreds of eyes glowing to life from the shadows, each a deep blood red, shining like the devil's stars in a cloudy night sky. As they seemed to crawl into existence, the creature continued with his sinister smile still playing on his face. "We have soooo much to explore here! Such an interesting world you have. I think our master would be pleased with us if we tore it to pieces for him to conquer and reign over when we're done. And all you can do is watch!" it started to laugh until someone decided to say something in response. "That's where you're wrong!"

"Hmm? Who said that?"

Linali stomped forward, looking the thing straight in the eye as she stood her ground with a look of defiance on your young, flawless face. "We'll fight you with everything we've got and we'll show you who's watching who!" she said confidently as it blinked at her, but to the girl's confusion, it burst out laughing again, its voice booming in comparison to the hundreds of others behind it, the whole places shaking with the sound of amusement. One could swear that its laughter was bringing tears to its eyes as it just waved her words away. "You're quite foolish little maiden. Quite foolish, to where I say that your point is very incorrect. Your _entire **organization**_ couldn't stand up to me, and you say now that _you_ are going to _beat **me**_? HA! I laugh at your words. Though brave they are but also misplaced. I think I'll enjoy slashing that face of yours to shreds! But wait! I've someone here who'll do it for me! Come on out! _Allen_-kun!"

"Allen?"

Even Kanda stared into the dark, seeking out the familiar, though annoying, smiling face they knew to be the young British teenager. And much to their relief he did appear, tall and unscathed, but something about him was wrong. "Allen?" Linali asked again as she cautiously took a step towards the boy but Kanda suddenly yelled at her. "LINALI! GET AWAY NOW!"

"Huh?" she didn't have to be told twice when Allen's arm came to life, the giant hand coming down on where she'd stood not seconds before, having activated her own Innocence weapon to leap away safely. Landing beside Kanda as he unsteadily got to his feet, both staring at their comrade, who much to their horror was staring back at them with empty, glazed eyes. "Surprised? I don't see why you shouldn't be. I had a feeling that Allen-kun here wouldn't listen to handsome ol' me right off so… well let's just say I used some of my talents to make him a little more willing to respond to my commands. Go ahead Allen-kun! Show them what you're made of!" the creature said gleefully as Allen undoubtedly moved to obey, his gaze devoid of the person they'd come to know so well over the past couple of months. Linali and Kanda managed to dodge the boy's attack, the girl looking unsure while Kanda just looked pissed. "Snap out of it Bean Sprout!"

But his words seemed to fall on deaf ears as the younger teen turned on him, a blank, almost sad look on his face as he turned on the elder boy who held a drawn sword in his hand. Without even blinking, the younger boy seemed to vanish only to reappear just centimeters from Kanda's face with the unseeing eyes of a dead man, his claw coming in for the kill. The older teen barely got away, clutching his side in pain, blood dripping to the floor and staining his coat heavily as he landed farther away this time. He flinched when it throbbed, vision blurring a bit but not enough to black out or make an embarrassing impression on those around him. Gritting his teeth he glared at Allen, growling in his fury. "What's the matter with you? Snap out of it!"

The next thing he hurt actually chilled him to the bone. "I'm afraid he can't hear you my boy! He's quite deaf to your calls so there's not use reasoning with him. Ah how I love creating the perfect soldier. A wonderful feeling isn't it? But I grow tired of this chitchat. Allen-kun… _kill him!_"

Kanda felt his eyes widen as Allen crouched a bit then came flying at him, making him raise his Mugen to block the claw coming down on him with bone crushing force. He was surprised that he had to use both hands to keep the sword from giving way and his being crushed to death, Allen's expression unchanged as Kanda slowly felt his arms weakening against the onslaught of unnatural strength. A few seconds later the claw went up and the to the side, swatting him into the wall like a fly, people scattering as Kanda crashed into the stone wall and the creature carelessly leaped across the room to land before Komui with a sinister smile. "Don't think I haven't forgotten you! Right now, you **_DIE_**!" it cackled as it raised its own, clawed hand, bringing it down on the frozen Chinese supervisor. Just as it was about to strike, it got blown away by a thunderous bark that came from the man's right. The hospital bed's side table, where Komui was currently stationed. People turned and their eyes widened to see that the masked dog statue had come to life, and was even growing in size, its voice already grown enough in volume. Enraged, the creature looked to see who'd dared attack it only for its face to go disgustingly pale with rage and fear. "_You!_ I killed you!" it roared almost in panic. But the dog seemed to care less what the creature had to say, growling viciously to show sharp teeth and strong jaws.

The dog's exterior was no longer a deep green but its natural brown, tan and black, fur clean and glossy. Its mask, made of what appeared to be white clay or porcelain, also untarnished by time, only gave way to cool grey eyes somewhat glaring at the deformed thing on the opposite side of the room. The creature only screamed some more in its fury and fright. "I killed you myself! How in all the fiery pit of hell are you _alive_? **_How!?_**"

Eyes now glowing green, the dog decided to answer the creature's question by leaping with unnatural strength and grace to latch its jaws onto one of its arms outstretched to shield it from the animal's attack. When some hours earlier their attacks had just made the thing laugh as if being tickled, this dog's offense had a different affect entirely, its eyes widening as it screeched in its agonized pain. It shook its arm, hoping to throw the dog away only for the beast's hold to be firm and unforgiving. All could only watch in shock as the dog not only bit down again but pulled on the creature's arm hard enough to rip it right out of the socket, the severed limb hanging uselessly from the dog's mouth before it was dropped and the dog leaped at the thing again. "FALL BACK!" it screeched desperately as it managed to dodge the dog's upcoming attack. "ALLEN-KUN! RETREAT!"

"_ALLEN **NO!**_" Linali called desperately but found that her words went unheard like Kanda's had, the boy quickly running into the shadows, his claw now a harmless hand as he leaped into the dark, and vanished. But the dog wasn't giving up that easily, running forward with amazing speed to stop at the entrance, the ground underneath it glowing a forest green. Much to everyone's amazement, vines and roots shot out of the stone floor and struck like vipers, grabbing a few of the things hidden in the shadows, and much to their relief, Allen. But Allen, even if he wasn't really in control, wasn't going to come without a fight as he activated his claw again, bringing it down on the dog and its plants. Luckily the dog managed to leap away but its hold on him was severed by the boy's weapon of a hand, allowing him to disappear for good.

The remaining creatures, however, weren't as resistant but more curious or confused, flailing in their panic as they were lowered to the floor. Eyes glowing green again the dog opened its mouth, this time a strange lime green vapor (dog breath anyone?) wafted out and spread like a mist over the floor and the trapped things screeching in their alarm of what was going on. There were at least seven of them, two instantly becoming frozen, their skin turning brown and cracked, falling to pieces as if made of cheap plaster. Only five remained in the unrelenting coils of the vines, their eyes darting as the green mist overwhelmed them, their screeches and screams fading to give way to silence. Seconds became minutes as the mist started to dissipate, allowing all to see the floor beyond. What they saw shocked them: five motionless forms, all wearing a distinct uniform made of a tan or brown material. Another thing was not only their clothes, but also the fact that they all had a mask like that of dog, except theirs were of different designs. The first to move amongst them all, a dragon-masked man who was almost on the far side of the room, groaned in fatigue and full body ache. He tried to sit up, failed the first time, almost made it the second but finally got up with a groaned mumble on the third. Back turned and head hung almost out of sight, the man braced the floor with gloved hands to unsteadily get to his feet, his boots scuffing on the ground. Finally getting all of the kinks out of his limbs, the man looked around, looking up, around until he looked behind him.

And what he saw certainly gave him reason to freeze to the spot, his dark grey eyes widening from behind the porcelain layer. He gulped as he took in just how many people were staring back at him, remaining still for as long as his limbs and time allowed. It took him a few seconds or so before they got any reaction at all: a muffled but clear scream of surprise and what they could only guess to be terror. This awakened the remaining four, making them jumpstart back to life, also finding their observers and thus continuing the scream fest. Much to everyone's latent surprise, what happened next seemed to happen almost too fast for the eye to track: they scattered.

The dragon masked man bolted right down the hall and down the stairs to vanish into the maze of corridors, two others managed to jump through the crowds and out a window as the last two followed the dragon masked man, only they went in separate directions to disappear as well. People could only stand in shock in as to what'd just occurred, dazed and extremely confused compared to minutes before. "Uh… what just happened?" Rabi couldn't help but say, successfully breaking the silence and snapping people out of their confused dazes.

"I don't know but we have to find those people! They could give us some answers on what's going on here. Linali, you, Rabi and Aleister get into teams of five together and get those people back here and try not to scare them. My guess is that they're as confused as we are right now." Komui commanded as he tried to get out of his hospital bed only to find River holding him down again.

"Hai. Okay let's go!" the girl called, chatter and movement kicking back into full gear once again, people gathering as requested, some others already on their way. While this was happening Kanda was being but into intensive care, some knowing full well that it was going to take more than just a life preserve seal to fix. As people exited the large room, Komui was the first to look around for the unusual canine helper from before only to find that it'd vanished. Confused on this count, he looked all around the room, down the hall and even under his bed where Linali had said she'd found the thing. Finding nothing and still greatly confused on where it went, the supervisor just lay back down on his bed and went to put his glasses back on the table. He froze when he saw what was also sitting there: the statue of the masked dog, sitting tall and proud, and staring right at him with eyes of serpentine marble. As if in slow motion, the dog moved ever so slowly into a different position, its chest touching down as it lay down as if to sleep.

It seemed to stare back at him for a while, both frozen, one in amazement or shock, the other since it was technically an inanimate object. Seeming to blink, the dog held the man's gaze for another minute before moving again. The Chinese man could only watch as the stone animal put its head down and closed its eyes before it went still again, as if it'd been there the entire time. Not know what else to do, Komui just set his glasses down anyway, eying the thing with a wary look, and shut his own eyes in the hopes of gaining peaceful slumber.

--**_In the Corridors_**--

Linali marched the halls, her eyes scanning everything within range with the help of a lamp in search for their rogue guests. Having traveling in the direction the dragon-masked man had gone so far she wasn't getting anything. Sighing in fatigue, the poor teenage girl felt like giving up even though they'd only been searching the castle halls for a little over an hour. About to turn back with empty hands, Aleister, who'd been assisting her in searching, noticed something move out of the corner of his eye. "There! Right there! Something moved!"

"What? Where?"

"Over there! Between that pillar and the that table with the vase!"

"It could just be a cat or a roach Aleister. C'mon let's go back."

"What I saw was not cat and certainly not an annoying bug! I'm telling you there's _something_ over there!"

"I'm sorry Aleister, I'm just tired." She said with an exhausted sigh before giving in to her friend's earnesty. "All right let's check it out."

Edging forward, Linali did see something move, and it really was bigger than any cat she'd ever come across in all of her years of traveling the world. Something small but noticeable was lying on the floor, twitching now and again almost in nervousness, its surface shimmering in the light from the lamp one of them was holding. They slowly turned the corner, wary of scaring off anyone or anything they found beyond their line of sight. And man did they find something hiding behind that pillar! For as they turned around that large stone structure, their eyes widened in amazement, Linali gasping in awe of the sight before them: a snake like creature with four legs and an incredibly thin body, floppy but elegant ridges on its back and horns adorning its majestic head. A small dragon, only about the size of a large dog, staring in shock that it'd been spotted by creatures larger than it was. Its scales a beautiful sea green, with eyes of a familiar dark grey, the little reptilian creature let out a screech much to that of a bird of prey before 'slithering' off with amazing speed and grace.

"After it!" the girl called, activating her Dark Boots in the hopes of gaining on it as it tried to disappear down another hallway. Lucky for them Aleister was a little quicker on the draw, pulling out a table cloth to ensnare the thing and create a would be bag to carry it in. As expected, it tried to struggle and claw its way out of its new prison, its screeches of protest muffled by the fabric that miraculously held together under the creature's weight. Much to the man's surprise, it didn't weigh all that much any way thus the worries of it escaping via an unfortunate rip seemed unlikely. Or at least so they thought.

--**_On the Castle Grounds_**—

Rabi and his group weren't having the times of their lives either having found their target had darted up a tree and was now throwing well-aimed produce like nuts or apples at them. And so far Rabi was lucky enough to get missed a few times, only getting bludgeoned once with an apple on the top of the head. Now he was trying not to lose his temper with the girl. Her bobcat mask was clean and had hardly any markings, which for now didn't really mean much except she was probably low in rank or experience. She had eyes of innocent amber, her short, black hair in a small braid, along with a small sword strapped to her back and a dagger at her side. But for now she seemed happy to throw apples and other objects at her pursuers, making hand gestures and yelling something that none of them could understand, comprehend or let alone pronounce even if they were lucky to know how it was spelled. Not wanting to give up without a fight, Rabi chose then to go up after her. Quickly mastering the first few levels of branches the one eyed boy managed to get close enough to her to grab her leg in the hopes of dragging her down. Clinging to the branch for dear life, the girl glared at him and tried to kick him in the face or stomp on his arm. So far her efforts were for nothing.

Growling in her fury, the girl finally did something that Rabi didn't expect and like most cases, prayed would never happen: she pulled her sword out with her free hand, bringing it up over her head before bringing it down on his arm. Not wanted to lose the limb he quickly pulled it back, surprising the girl when he pulled her along as well. Full of rage now, the girl wasn't going to be degraded that easily as she brought the blade around to try and get him in the face with it. He managed to dodge it, all the while bringing them down to the ground saying, "Hey! I only got one eye! Don't exactly want to lose the other now knock it off already!" finally on the ground he started to drag her back to the castle. Or at least he would have if she hadn't gotten him on the forearm. Gasping at the sudden pain he immediately let go of her only for one of the others to grab her as he examined the cut. It wasn't deep and it stung like he'd been bitten by something considerably dangerous and hopefully not poisonous.

The girl was still putting up quite a fight even when her sword was gone. Her movements were jerky and forceful as she tried to free herself from her captors, digging her heels into the ground as they once again led her to the castle while Rabi stayed close and wary. His arm was still bleeding but he didn't really think it was much of a deal since getting the girl back was top priority above much else. Getting on his transmission golem, he decided to check up on the others. "I've found mine in the orchard and she's being a real problem to get places but I think we can handle it. What about you guys?"

"_We found ours hiding in one of the hallways. He was a real slippery one and--. Oh darn! Quick after him!_"

"Linali? Linali what happened?"

"I don't know what or how it happened but he got away again. Don't worry, Aleister's on it right now and I think I've just spotted another. I'm gonna need some back up."

"Well I'm done here so I can probably get to you. Where are you at?"

"_Fifth floor heading toward the south side!_"

"South side? That's where I'm at!" the red head looked up, searching the windows for Linali and her new target. He got a real surprise when he found them. Why? Because the man, regardless of being in any real danger or not, simply broke through the glass of the window and jumped into nothing but open air. "IS HE CRAZY?!" the teen exclaimed on almost every channel, his eye bulging out of its socket. "_I don't know but we need to catch him! Can you get to him when he lands?_"

"THAT IS _IF_ HE LANDS! AND RIGHT NOW THAT'S A BIG IF! What does he think he's made of? Steel?"

"_Just see if you can't keep an eye on him at least until I get there?_"

"I gotcha on that one. I only got one eye anyway." He grumbled as he sprinted through the trees until he found some open space right where the man in question expertly landed as if he'd only jumped a few feet. Only difference was the fact that he created a bit of a crater in his wake, the ground buckling under an invisible pressure to make a dip in the ground some inches deep. The man straightened, staring at his creation with some curiosity but looked honestly dumbfounded at it all. Turning to find Rabi staring at him with his jaw on the ground, the man just shifted under his gaze, saying quite clearly. "Uh… I can fix this."

Rabi couldn't help but gape some more at what the stranger before him had just said. He'd not only said something in plain English, but had said something as if out of embarrassment for his deeds. _What the hell are these people and where did they come from?_ The teen couldn't help but think as he looked the stranger over. Much like the girl's clothes, his were a light tan and a little baggy for mobility, extra pockets on his pant legs and pockets on the sleeves of his jacket. What he could only guess to be a katana was strapped to his back, a messenger bag at his side. His shoes looked like they were meant for hiking or rough terrain travel, colored a decent black and seeming to fit his attire nicely. Curious and surprised that the man wasn't panicking, Rabi dared move forward, hoping to get a better look at the being examining the ground he'd just indented with something Rabi couldn't begin to understand. This man's mask was that of a hawk, golden green eyes peering out with a warm gentleness that Rabi had only seen someplace else in a person's eyes. _He's a lot like… Allen! Is that possible?_

"Uh could you not stare at me like that? It's kinda weirdin' me out here." the voice came again, snapping Rabi out of his curious daze and making him aware of the man's nervous air. "Oh! Uh sorry. It's just… I don't think I've ever seen someone do that before."

"Oh this? This is nothing compared to some of the things I've seen in my time. Trust me. There are some amounts of carnage that any number of eyes shouldn't have to take in all in one sitting." He said with a wave of his hand, almost as if it were a normal subject of conversation that usually popped up at any time. Shaking the thought away without getting too carried away, Rabi decided that now was a good time as any to do is job and that was getting this odd ball of a stranger to come with him. "Um… I know that this seems kinda important to you right now but--."

"Yeah? But what?"

"But uh you need to come with me. There are some people who want to meet you and you know, talk to you."

"Oh them? Oh no. No. Not goin' back there."

"What? Why not?"

"Too many of them. Not all that great with crowds."

"It'll only be with a small group this time. Now c'mon. We have to find your friends too."

"You promise?"

At first, Rabi though this was a strange question being sent in his direction but when he stared at the man a bit harder, he noticed something that he hadn't really tried to find. This man was actually the same age as him, maybe a few years older by far but for some reason, had the mentality of a little kid mixed in with that of a well seasoned grown up that seemed to know anything and everything about the world around him. This person was someone who depended on the truth to be told every time. Straight up. He could only nod in response before quietly saying. "Yeah. Yeah, I promise."

"Okay." his voice seemed to show relief and a smile. As they walked into the castle, Rabi had a feeling that he was leading a small child in, rather than an equal of all counts.

--**_Fifth Floor, Northeastern Side_**—

Aleister, now on his own, was having a real hard time keeping up with his slippery target that somehow was, in his mind gliding, now flying through the air like a piece of living, shimmering ribbon. How it'd escaped the cloth he didn't know but capturing it _again_ was starting to be a real hassle. He'd almost lost sight of it more than once and thanks to his enhanced vision, he could easily see where it was when his regular vision failed him. Much to his curiosity and relief, it only made moves to escape or evade him rather than attack or attempt to assail with some form of defense. But it seemed to be heading in a particular direction, sometimes stopping to look around or sniff the air, only to look behind it and spot him before it darted off again.

Deciding that enough was enough, Aleister jumped onto the creature with almost everything he had, his hands outstretched and ready to grab whatever was in range. To his luck and relief, if not delight, he looked to find that he had his slippery escapee back in his custody. Getting to his feet with the creature in hand, he activated his transmission golem. "Linali-chan. Linali-chan do you read?"

"_Yes Crowley-kun. What's your status?_"

"I've captured the creature and I'm coming back now."

"_Great! We already have two here. Good job Crowley-kun!_" she said gleefully over the line as he smiled victoriously to himself. But a noise somewhere behind him stopped him in his tracks; the smile vanished as he slowly turned to find a pair of enraged eyes staring back at him, glowing a bright hot yellow. "Linali-chan…." He managed to whisper as he willed his feet to move, almost frozen as the eyes came closer, the growl more menacing and louder than before. "_Aleister? Aleister-kun is everything all right?_" The girl called almost frantically as the Romanian man finally got his feet to leave the floor as he took a step back. The creature in his hands had gone still but seemed to be mewling at the approaching figure. Only much to their disdain wasn't working. Linali's voice called over the line again. "_Aleister! Aleister what's going on?!_"

"I think I found another one." He whispered in his fright before he finally turned and ran faster than he had ever before this very moment. His heart and blood froze when a roar that rivaled a bear's or a lion's followed in his wake. A good reason, despite his now struggling passenger still caught in his hands, to run a whole lot faster than ever in his life.

Holy crap that took forever but dammit I got it down! Yay me! And I hope you guys like it 'cause this was a real pain in the ass to write even when some parts seemed so easy to do. Oh well. On with things! No notes! Again with no notes to deal with but I'm sure they'll come around in later chapters but if you guys have questions anyway you can just contact me anytime. But for now let's just worry about what's comin' next huh?

Next chapter:

Chapter 3: Calming The Black Knight

Looks like Aleister's gotten himself in a bit of a pinch while Rabi's trying to comprehend the child like man who was more than willing to cooperate with him than some minutes before. But the question is, how long is he willing to go with what the others have in store before he decides to high tail it out of there? And what's more, just who is the new threat that's now after Aleister and his slippery captive? Is our favorite Romanian vampire in over his head or can his much needed help going to come from the critter in his hands, or the guy that Rabi's with? And should that not be enough to question, just who and what is the magical marble dog? Is it just an object of mystical ability or is there more to any of this than meets the eye? And what of Kanda? Will he recover in time to help Allen all the while opening up to the British teen? Am I going to tell? Hell no! Find out in:

_**Chapter 3: Calming The Black Knight!!**_


	3. Chapter 3: Calming The Black Knight

Time to start reading again people! Why? Cause this chapter's up and ready to go! You guys have been so great so far and I gotta say it's been a real trip! So many hits for chapter 1 and I've yet to know how you all react to chapter 2 but right now it's time for chapter 3 to take the spotlight! I don't own D. Gray-Man in any way or form so just sit back, chill out and enjoy!

"iii" speech

_iii_ thought

"_iii_" radio transmission

Chapter 3: Calming The Black Knight

Aleister didn't know what better to do other than do the instinctive thing: run like a bat outta hell. Dragon in his hands and a all too pissed off hawk masked man on his tail, he knew that today just wasn't for him in any way. Just when he thought that nothing else would happen, he vaguely felt a burning heat at his back. Confused he managed to turn and see exactly why: his masked pursuer almost inches away with an outstretched hand trying to reach out as if to grab him and stop him in his tracks. Only odd thing was, this hand was engulfed in blue flame and was getting closer by the second. Eyes almost popping out of his skull, Aleister leaped to the side, facing front and running like crazy again in the hopes of escaping the wrath of his attacker. No such luck. This only made the masked figure to growl in aggravation and come after him with even more speed and what he knew quite well to be rage.

Taking a left at the next corner, Aleister desperately ran into an empty room and didn't dare close the door should the slam catch his attacker's attention. Much to his relief the man's boot steps went right past the doorway, allowing him to sigh and lean against the wall in his fatigue. He relaxed so much he almost lost his grip on his still slithering captive who now once again trying to escape his hands. "Oh no. Not again. Not this time." the man growled as he kept his grip strong and firm to ensure it'd stay in his hands and nowhere else. But what he didn't expect was a response. "Okay! Okay you got me all right? Now loosen up! I think I'm gonna lose whatever meal I had last to them damn hands of yours!"

His jaw dropped. Did the dragon… just talk? He didn't have to ask. "Surprised? Well good for you. Now will you at least put me down? Can't stay like this forever ya know. Sheesh."

Blinking at the request, he saw no reason to disobey since the creature had asked in a seemingly polite manner so without another word he set the dragon on the floor where it immediately shook itself. Then its form shifted and vibrated a bit before stretching and getting a bit discolored, growing to about the size of a teenager, scales giving way to clothes, hair and skin. What puzzled Aleister the most was where the young man's mask was, but this question was answered when he saw it strapped to his shoulder for later. Lastly he gave the figure before him a good look over: his features were straight and clean, his eyes still the mysterious dark grey that appeared a little sunken in from what he could only deduce as lack of proper sleep. His hair, straight and a little frayed, dark brown in color to where it looked as if it were soaked. But his clothes were the most curious part of him: a light tan jacket with several pocket pouches, his pants the same color and probably had more pockets than the jacket, appearing to be slightly baggy for mobility and most likely growing room. A messenger bag at his side and what looked to be a katana at his back, the young man stood patiently under the man's curious gaze. "You done?"

"Huh? Oh sorry. I didn't mean to--." He stammered but the teen just waved it away with a cool expression.

"Nah it's alright. Kinda knew you'd do that. Not your fault."

"Uh… do you mind if I ask you something?"

"You just did." The teen smirked as Aleister stumbled for words.

"I-I know but… oh that's not the point!" he exploded, hissing in his confusion and indignation even though the teen just snickered.

"Haha. I know."

"Uh huh. Why did you run earlier? It's not like we were going to hurt you." He got a delicate smile as the teen scratched the back of his head. "Yeah there's a reason for that. We're not used to crowds and what have you, at least on that big of a crowd anyway. I'm sure even you're aware of something like that."

Aleister couldn't help but nod, having his own hometown reject him without a second thought was too harsh for him after he destroyed his grandfather's castle to go with Allen and Rabi in search of General Cross who was still missing. But the teen brought him out of his thoughts when he went to go out into the hall, looking one way then the other, almost in search of something. "Where are you going? Are you crazy? There's an insane man running around out there!"

"Oh he's not insane. He's just confused. And obviously pissed considering how close he came to taking your head off. No worries. I'll calm him down when he and if he pops up again."

"Are you sure?" he inquired, cautiously stepping out into the hallway as the teen nodded. But he didn't stop there.

"It could be worse though."

"Worse?"

"Yup. You bet. He could be trying to take this whole building down from the bottom up." He said calmly as he left the room, almost strutting through the halls with Aleister on his heels.

Rabi didn't know if he was dreaming, if he was sick or just plain seeing odd things but his own 'captive' was being possibly too cooperative with him and it was starting to make him doubt a lot of things at this point. One thing was how kind the fellow teen was, along with how waited for Rabi to lead the way back when he seemed to get too far ahead of the red head. During their calm trip through the empty corridors, Rabi took the time to question the man. "So do you have a name?"

"Do you?"

"Uh yeah."

"There you have it!"

"That's not what I meant."

"I know!" he said, seeming to smile under his mask at the one eyed boy. Rabi just blinked before continuing his supposed interrogation. "Do you know how you got here?"

"Nope."

"You don't?"

"Nope nothin'. Just black or blurred images. That happens when _they_ get inside. Especially after someone gets them out too. Causes a real mess."

"They? Who's they?"

"The undead things. I'm sure you've met 'em. Nasty sons of bitches, but its not their fault; if you knew you'd agree."

"Agree with what?"

"Sorry! Not allowed to say."

"Okay now you're just avoiding the question." He growled with indignation, the other teen just shaking his head.

"Am not."

"Are too!"

"Am not."

"You are too!"

"Am not infinity."

"What the-? That doesn't count as a response!"

"Yes it does."

"No it doesn't and you know it!"

"It doesn't?"

"Yes!"

"It does?"

"NO!" the red head was about to strangle the other teen before a new voice butted in on them.

"You're not going to get anything from him."

The new voice made Rabi turn and the teen to exclaim. "GAYLE! Good to see you! What's up?" the teen dubbed 'Gayle' just smirked as he gave the other a gentle punch to the top of his head as Aleister appeared not far behind him.

"Keeping your crazy ass out of trouble. And do you know your brother's going on a rampage? Again?"

"Again?!" he repeated, almost surprised by this news as Gayle nodded with a grim expression.

"Yes again. Almost scorched my escort here to a smoldering crisp." He grumbled as he gave the Romanian the thumb gesture. "We need to regroup so we can calm the dude down just so that he doesn't turn this place into rubble."

The hawk masked teen nodded as Gayle gave the two exorcists an expectant look. "Well? What're you waiting for? Let's go!"

Not needing to be told twice Rabi moved to take the lead with the remaining three not far behind, an angered roar echoing behind them was prompt enough for them to pick up the pace. Much to their relief, they didn't have to travel far. The infirmary was filled to the max with people, both finders and exorcists, making Gayle and the other teen to almost instantly hide behind the nearest pillar, Gayle's face having gone unnaturally pale. "We're back!" Rabi called, gaining a lot of turned heads and the two teens too many pairs of eyes on them. Gayle kept his face still while the still masked teen hid behind him, seeming to whimper as he peeked over the other man's shoulder. Komui, newly awakened and with crutches but proud as ever, limped forward to speak first. "I'm Supervisor Komui Lee. I'm also in charge of--."

"The Black Priests serving to rid this world of all its trouble all the while gathering great sources of power before the enemy does. I've been told this already."

"Told? By who?"

"My commanding officer."

"And who's your commanding officer."

"By that bed. On the table. He's napping obviously, the lazy bum."

Komui couldn't help but look confused. The newcomers' commanding officer was the statue of a dog? "B-but how-?"

"Yes it's a strange thought isn't it? Can easily fix that though." All went still, both sides expecting the other to move. No one dared take a step. Seeing that they weren't getting anywhere, Gayle just sighed with exasperation and let his form become hard to distinct as solid and discolored. His face became long and elongated; his mouth bigger while his nose got stretched across the front of his face, horns stretching out behind his skull. The rest of his body changed into that similar to a snake's, four small legs with clawed feet lightly touching the ground. Even if he had no wings to go with his sea green scales and storm grey eyes, he still floated in the air like a mist or a cloud, slipping past legs and posts toward the 'sleeping' dog statue on the far side of the room.

The other teen, on the other hand, stayed where he was behind the stone pillar as he eyed those all around but kept a good watch on his transfigured counterpart. Thankfully he didn't have to wait long for the dragon quickly reached his destination to sit on his haunches; body fully stretched and front paws on the tables' edge. Face to face with the marble dog, he snorted. A strange smoke exited the dragon's nostrils to engulf the dog's head in the odd mist, loud sneezes instantly sounding off while the dragon trotted away a bit to watch the show. The dog was moving again, hacking, coughing and sneezing as it started to grow in size all the while it started to change shape. It wasn't long before a man in a dog's mask, dressed much like the hawk-masked teen was only his sword was broad, the hilt a bit longer than probably needed. "What the fuck was that for Newman?"

"Well I had to get up somehow so there you have it. One lazy colonel, up and at 'em and hopefully ready to explain a few things."

"Oh I'll explain somethin' alright! On how I'm gonna beat your ass as soon as I can breath!"

"Aw c'mon sir! Can't take a little dust to the face?"

"I think water would've worked just fine!"

"Yeah but I know you would've only been angrier than you are now. Can't have you blowing a gasket when we kinda need you to help out some."

"Oh yeah? And what's that?" he demanded, sounding infuriated.

"He's rampaging again." This made the man stop moving, his silvery grey eyes wide as he exclaimed.

"AGAIN?!"

"Yes again. And he was very ill mannered to a friend of ours over there." Gayle said dully, pointing to Aleister again this time with his tail. "He was lucky to get away with just a singed cloak and a fast beating heart if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, yeah I know all too well. Are you sure he's not just venting?"

"Gee I don't know! I wasn't exactly in a position to ask him! Let alone get him to stop trying to turn everything to ashes. Thought you could do something about that crazy bastard instead." Gayle snapped, his voice dripping with sarcasm while the dog-masked teen just threw up his hands in defeat. "FINE! Fine I'll see if I can't talk to the guy. But it's on you if he tries to kill me anyway."

"Whatever just go you lazy drunk!"

"Hey! I'll have you know I'm quite sober right now! Stupid dragon." The teen grumbled as he calmly walked through the crowd toward the door, Gayle floating not far behind.

"Get goin' before I bite your eyes out!" the dragon hissed with his claws and teeth bared and ready to strike but this didn't seem to bother the teen much.

"Alright! All right! Jeez." He mumbled in his fatigue, soon disappearing down the hall with a lazy sway in his gait. Gayle soon changed back to stand not far from where Komui stood with his jaw on the ground in shock. "That good enough for ya?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, yeah." He stumbled over his words but Linali running up to him allowed him a distraction from saying what he wanted to. "Linali? What is it?"

"It's the girl we caught earlier! She's acting strange!"

"Strange? What's her mask?" Gayle demanded, somehow managing to cut in before Komui could say anything. Linali didn't bother to question the request though it confused her. "It's a cat. Why?"

"I'll tell you later. What kind of cat?"

"A bobcat. Is there something wrong?" she asked, concerned.

"Maybe. Just maybe." He said, his expression clouded as he waved for the girl to lead the way, also waving for the hiding teen to follow. The teen hesitated at first but somehow became a blur in the air that swiftly reached the other man's side before solidifying, keeping a sharp eye on everyone around him as if half expecting someone to try and tackle him. The four traveled to another part of the floor, coming to a hallway where one of the doors was trying to move in an unnatural direction. Gayle just sighed as the hawk masked teen seemed to recite. "Meriwa (1) Connors, from 4th Company. She's got a bit of a record Major."

"I'm aware of that. Just stay here lieutenant, and let me handle it."

"Yes sir." He said as Gayle stepped toward the door, standing some distance from it so it wouldn't get him if it broke but could still see through the window. "Meri? Meriwa it's me, Newman. You need to stand down or you'll get into some big trouble."

"They attacked me! I'll not stand around and be treated like an animal!"

"You'll be treated like one until you stop acting like one so stand down! That's an order young lady!"

The door ceased to move, the loud banging stopped as angry pants could be heard from the room. When she spoke it was in a low hiss. "You're not my commanding officer Major. I'm from a different company than you so why don't you fuck off!"

"REGARDLESS OF MY ORIGINS AND MY STANDING I'M STILL OF A HIGHER _RANK_ THAN YOU **_PRIVATE_**! NOW STAND DOWN OR I'LL COME IN THERE AND USE A ROCK ON YOUR THICK HEAD!" he roared viciously, his face red with anger. He had to gasp for air to calm himself since his fury was so intense. A few minutes passed by before he spoke again, only this time in a softer and most likely dangerous tone. "Now I'm going to open the door, and you're going to be on your best behavior in helping get things straightened out. And you'll be _lucky_ that I don't have you court marshaled for insubordination. Do you understand me?"

Nothing but silence answered this question until he asked again. "I **_said_**... do you understand me?"

"Yes. Sir."

"Good." He turned to Linali. "Miss, if you'd kindly open this door please?"

"Um yes!" the girl didn't have to be told twice as she quickly took out the key, sticking it in the lock and turning it. An angry but silent girl came forth, glaring at the Major before stepping out of the doorway to stand nearby with a pissed off expression on her face. Her mask now off, they could see she had a somewhat deep tan sporting her slightly rounded features. She didn't say anything as Gayle turned to Komui. "Now we only have two more problems remaining to be dealt with."

"And those are?"

"One: my commanding officer has yet to report back with the news of whether or not he failed or succeeded in calming down our other associate and two: one of our is still missing."

"We still have a team out looking for him. Apparently he's a lot better at staying scarce than you guys. Now are you going to tell me what's going on in my building or do I have to take seemingly unnecessary measures to get some answers from you?"

"Well your questions will have to wait until we're sure that all have been assembled for a all-round briefing off the masses. First things first my friend. First things first."

"That's not--."

"Good enough? Too bad, so sad. Deal with it. My comrades and I are the experts on this, not you. Don't like it? Go cry your lousy crocodile tears somewhere else while I try and get things organized to where you just might have _some_ idea about what you're dealing with."

Komui could only stare in shock as Gayle's fierce gaze kept him silent as he turned to his counterparts. "Connors, go find that search party and give them a hand finding Mr. AWOL. We'll leave getting out other friend to the Colonel for now. The rest of you are with me now let's move."

Meriwa was soon marching down the hall in a huff, her expression still clouded in rage as Gayle led them back to the infirmary where people stood by waiting for instruction and news of what was next. "Evan?"

"Gayle?" the masked teen inquired in response.

"See if you can't get all of this cleaned up. Don't leave any cut without a bandage you got me?"

"Yup!"

"And take that mask off. We're not in a battle zone here."

"Roger that!" the teen said happily as he undid the strap to his mask, revealing a sharp featured face and a kind smile to match. Turning to the crowd with the same expression, he loudly asked. "Who's first?"

It wasn't long before everything was moving again, this time at a slightly faster pace than before, since the teen somehow managed to become in complete control of everything around him. And it wasn't surprising when River came up to him with some more requests for assistance. "We have some seriously wounded over here and they need help bad."

"Okay let's see then."

Nodding the man lead the teen toward a row of beds where various assistants were struggling to stop bleeding, close up large wounds while others were just trying to keep their patients on the living side of life. Evan's expression became grim before he smiled, cracking his fingers and going still again. What happened next made people stop in their tracks, jaws literally on the floor. One side of him leaned in one direction, the other quite opposite, allowing him to split in half right down the middle without so much as a sign of resistance or pain. The two halves almost fell to the floor as they separated at the feet to stand next to each other, turning then nodding at each other in greeting before the went still and repeated the sequence.

This was repeated quite a few times before there were more than enough to deal with medical needs, supply transport and ration organization and then some. One of the duplicates approached Komui with a familiar smile. "Do you require assistance?"

"Uh no not right now. But…. Thank you… for asking…." He said with a bit of uncertainty, giving Gayle a confused look even when the man just shook his head with a smirk. The duplicate nodded and walked away to ask the same question only this time receiving a positive response, instantly taking control with ease and comfort. Komui didn't know what to say, much else what to think of what was happening except that this was _way_ better than some ten or so minutes ago. His eyes couldn't even believe themselves as things were brought back into working order. A group of curious exorcists and finders could only watch in amazement as their peers were healed and assisted in a way that no human they knew could match. All with minor injuries were quickly bandaged and set to helping the other duplicates in getting things together. It was an experience none of them wanted to forget.

Gayle just sat in a nearby chair, watching everything unfold as Komui stared at the marvel before him. Turning to the other man, he just couldn't keep all of his questions in as he inquired. "How is he doing all this? Just who is he?"

"That's something all of our kind can do. It's a great tool for something like this as well as the battlefield. But since he knows more about medicine than I do, he's the best for this kind of work on almost every level of expertise. He may've been shy earlier but when he finds his ground, you can expect a positive outcome. His brother, on the other hand, isn't as friendly and would rather kill anything and everything within his range but knows better than to do such a thing."

"His brother?"

"The guy who's still missing and nearly torched Crowley here. He can get real pissed off at times but normally he just sits and stares at you with this blank look. Kinda creepy if you ask me. Those two are complete opposites even when they look exactly the same."

"Exactly the same? You mean they're twins?" Linali inquired, curious about this sort of description.

"You bet. The troublesome duo that gives every enemy they face a killer headache and something to cry about. You can rest assured that you can depend on one to patch you up while the other goes to kick some major ass. That and they play a good game of cards."

"They… play cards?" it was Rabi's turn to look confused, his mind thinking back to when Allen had played against the group of men on the train to get Aleister's stuff back before they got to the next stop.

"Yup. And they cheat too."

"DO NOT! MEANIE!" a chorus of voices echoed in indignation, a few of the duplicates already sobbing while others waved their fists at Gayle in anger. Many couldn't help but sweat drop at this reaction even when the various Evans went back to their work, sending Gayle a number of glares and nasty looks while the man in question ignored this. Just as Komui was about to say something else, another issue decided to arise above it all: the dog masked teen, sent forth to deal with his rogue counterpart, came scrambling into the hall, his light grey eyes filled with undisputed urgency. "WE'VE GOT PROBLEMS!"

"What? I thought you went to find Mr. Grouchy?"

"I did but it seems he's more than just rampaging!"

"More than that? No way!"

"WAY! Now you gonna let me talk or not?"

"Fine, fine! Talk away dog breath."

The teen glared but he went back into his nervous panic. "His sense of reality's totally warped! That dude's goin' after everything that moves so much as an inch from where it already is! Tapestries are trashed and he's knockin' on doors left and right. I tried to get close but he nearly sliced me in half. He's totally out of it!"

"Where did you see him last?"

"Uh…." Before he could say more, the wall behind him was blown to dust in a wave of thunderous sound and force. People yelled and screamed in their surprise as they tried to get away so they wouldn't be crushed under the deadly tumble of stone. All stared at the new opening, eyes straining to see what stood beyond all the dust and rubble that clouded their vision. It was like finding another Evan, only this one's face was completely devoid of any emotion of any kind, his eyes sharp and ice cold, seeing all that was hidden under your skin with just a glance. People couldn't help but stay frozen as this newcomer walked forward, dragging something amidst the mess. As soon as it came into view, a few of the exorcists felt like vomiting: the teen was dragging one of the creatures by the cloak, beaten and bleeding profusely, one of its legs missing while one of its arms was twisted at a sickening angle.

The teen stopped after a few steps, looking around before spotting Gayle and the others standing to the side, their faces pale with shock and amazement. With a dull tone and a bored expression, he spoke for the first time. "There you guys are. I found one."

"IS _THAT_ WHAT YOU WERE DOING?!" Chevy screamed angrily, his silver grey eyes almost alit with fiery rage at his newly arrived counterpart.

"Uh… yeah?" his voice was still dull even when Chevy continued to explode in his face while he seemed to keep his cool.

"YOU BASTARD! You nearly killed me!"

"Hmm, I thought that was you. You're still in one piece aren't you?"

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU PSYCHOPATH!?"

The newcomer stared at the fuming dog masked man silently, eyebrow raised in question but he didn't say anything. Gayle could only shake his head in defeat, speaking up in order to break the silence. "Ozzy, you could've at least told us what you were doing before you attack anyone. You had us thinkin' you'd gone off the deep end."

"The deep end? Dude, I'm not even that far. Not yet."

"Now you're just saying things."

"So?"

"Could someone please tell me what's going on here?!" Komui's demand broke through it all, the three teens looking at the older man. Gayle quickly answered the man's question. "Oh Komui-kun! Meet Ozzy, Evan's older twin brother. Ozzy, this is Komui-san. We'll be workin' with him until we get home."

Ozzy stared at Komui, a nasty scowl on his face. "Hn."

Komui just sweat dropped, not helping but shiver under the teen's harsh gaze even after he turned back to Chevy with a look of indifference. "Anyway. I found this thing. What should we do with it?"

Chevy gave Ozzy a nasty glare before looking the obviously dead creature over carefully, seeming to know well to keep his distance from it. Ozzy didn't seem to be that bothered to do the same. "What exactly did you do to it when you fought it?"

"Actually… hardly anything."

"Hardly? What's that mean?"

"Meaning it was easy but the results were weird."

"You're saying you didn't do this?"

"Well duh. I'm just as confused as you. That and the arm was really botherin' me, even before I brought it here."

"It's arm?" looking at it now, they could see that the left arm was twisted in an odd and sickening way that made Linali want to turn and vomit. The dusty figure barely had a face and he or she looked like they were about to fall to pieces or into a large pile of discolored dust. "This…." It was almost below a whisper but Chevy seemed to hear it anyway.

"Huh? You say something Linali-chan?"

"This… used to be a human being?" she said, this time a bit louder, all seeming to stop.

The three stared at her, the looks on Rabi and Aleister's faces asking the same even though they didn't say anything. Turning to Komui, they could easily see that the same was going through his mind as well. "Unfortunately… yes. It was human once. But it's just a corpse now, having been denied proper burial and rights. When it comes to our job we have no shortage of this kind of thing. I can easily say that it's disgraceful and unthinkable but… we can't do everything all at once. All we can do is do it little by little, one step at a time."

"But you could've-!"

"Could've what girl? Could've saved him or her the pain? Nice try but this guy was already dead when I cleansed him, the possessor having long since shut him up even if we did do something he'd still be dead and we'd have one less to worry about." Ozzy snapped, his sharp golden green eyes turning on her in an instant, successfully silencing her before she could say more. Merciless and looking angry, he didn't stop there. "If you're goin' to be cryin' your eyes out then go do it elsewhere. Otherwise I would of brought a boat in case you stare a river or somethin'."

Dropping the dusty corpse in finality, he turned to leave the area only to find two very angry exorcists staring him down. Eyes narrowing into a vicious glare, Ozzy did the same to them. "Need somethin' punks?"

"You've no right to talk to Linali-chan like that." Rabi growled, his right hand held carefully over his Size-Shifting Hammer while Aleister bared his teeth. This display didn't seem to bother the teen in the slightest as he just scoffed and nudged past them coolly, heading toward the hole he'd made. He only turned to say. "I'll be lookin' around for more of those things. See ya."

Just as he was about to leave, Evan spoke up for the first time in a while. "But Brother! You're bleeding!"

Stopping in his tracks and turning to give his younger double a confused look, he looked down to find that this was true. No one could think why none had noticed before but once Evan spoke up, the teen's condition became obvious. The teen had a small cut on his face, obviously minor compared to the rest of him which looked horrible: a large gash went from his stomach to somewhere behind his back, what appeared to be a stab wound in his arm and legs while what looked to be a piece of a broken wooden pole stuck out of his back as if it were shrapnel. Ozzy blinked with a mild expression. "Huh. That explains somethin'."

It wasn't long before he fell like a stone, unaware of much else.

--**_Two Hours Later_**—

"I can't believe that he'd be that stupid." Gayle was the first to say.

"_I_ can't believe he didn't notice!" Aleister exclaimed while Rabi and Linali nodded in agreement.

"How can you not notice something as big as that?!" Komui asked aloud.

"Apparently he did. But that's just him." Gayle muttered.

"Stop talkin' like I'm not here you damn bastards. Itai! Dammit be careful with that!" Ozzy snapped, making them jump even as he twitched in pain.

"Sorry Brother but you should stay still. I can't do much if you keep moving like you do." Evan demanded in a tired voice, getting a clean cotton ball before going back to what he was doing.

Grumbling angrily, Ozzy glared at the ceiling with a vengeance as his younger sibling continued to disinfect the gash in his side, trying not to do much else except breathe little breaths to avoid making the wound hurt more than it already did. Gayle stood by with Komui and the other two exorcists. Chevy had stayed in the main infirmary hall to make sure the Evan clones were getting things in order like before. "How much longer can you keep those guys goin' Ev?"

The teen sighed before looking from his work, looked absolutely exhausted. "About another half hour if I use human healing methods on Brother here and a few other people out there. More than that and I'll pass out like a log."

"I see. We'll get Komui's people to take over when you're done here. Be sure to get some rest when you can."

"Right. See you later Gayle." Evan mumbled as he went back to his work as Gayle led the group out of the room. "Will he be all right?"

"If he gets the rest he needs, rest assured he'll be cheerier than ever come this time tomorrow. For now he should be fine. What I'm interested in is the rest of Ozzy's report. Apparently he saw something we didn't while he was out there."

"So you think that he can tell us where Allen is?" Rabi inquired, sounding hopeful only to be met by a confused expression.

"Allen? Who's Allen?" the teen's question threw them off guard, telling them they'd forgotten to fill him in on the other details.

"He's one of ours." A new voice growled, making them turn to find Kanda, proud and grumpy as ever, the ever famous scowl on his face as he spoke again. "And we need to get him back."

"Uh… who's he?"

"Kanda! You shouldn't be up!" Linali cried out in panic, the grumpy teen only shrugged it off while he growled again.

"Like hell! That guy beat me and he didn't even know it! And that thing… I'm gonna skin it alive next I see it."

"Thing? What thing? Explain." Gayle felt truly lost now, giving the teen an inquiring look.

"Some undead thing that came earlier, was usin' Bean Sprout like a puppet before he knocked me out." Kanda mumbled carelessly, only leaving the teen even more confused.

"Bean sprout?"

"Never mind. From what I know, Chevy got rid of it before you guys woke up. It was screaming something about how it'd 'killed him'. Do you know anything about that?" Komui inquired only to find that Gayle had blanched, his eyes wide almost in horror at the taller man. "W-what?"

"Gayle? Are you okay?"

"N-no… I-I'm fine…. Just … fine…." He stammered before he quickly walked away, just managing to get past Kanda in a rush to get away, soon disappearing into the main infirmary and the throng of Evan clones.

Chevy didn't react if he noticed Gayle zeroing in on him, a disturbed expression coloring his face as he approached. When he got close enough, the teen spoke in a harsh whisper. "Did you know? Did you know he was still around?"

"I had my suspicions but I didn't think they were true until I got here. He's disgustingly persistent." Was his reply, as quiet as Gayle but not as harsh.

"Komui says one of theirs was taken. Some kid named Allen. I'm thinkin' he thought he was strong enough to claim. Got any ideas?"

"A few but we should wait until we're in a group, not separate." He said just as coolly, not looking at the other teen as he sorted a few boxes of medical supplies.

"How can you-?" Gayle exclaimed but Chevy's next words silenced him as the teen turned to him with an indignant glare.

"How can I not Gayle? You think just because I'm a team captain that I can do anything? No we need more people, more firepower if we can guarantee anything right now. This got to big for us to handle as soon as he grabbed the kid. I can tell ya I tried to stop him but I managed to get you guys back instead. End of story."

Gayle stayed quiet for a minute or two before speaking again. "So we're goin' to do nothing?"

"No. We'll do somethin'. Just not now." He sighed in defeat, looking back at his work, returning to his cool composure. Gayle watched him for another minute before he moved to walk away.

"I hope you're right about that Chevy, I seriously hope you're right."

"So do I dude, so do I."

Gayle quickly walked away; still looking troubled but not as much anymore. He knew he could depend on Chevy for lots of things… but he didn't know for just how long. Pushing the thoughts away, the teen decided that he needed to do something to keep them away, picking up a few boxes and going with the flow of things. His thoughts didn't bother him much after that.

Good god that took a while but I finished it! Yay me! At least my brain isn't being evil on me today otherwise it would've taken me longer to get this damn thing done so you guys could read it. I seriously hope you guys are enjoying what you see and if not, well I hope I can do better the next time I post. But for now, it's time for notes! Which is surprising since they're hardly coming anymore… oh well. Here it is then:

1) _Meriwa_: an interesting name that caught my eye. From what I saw about it, I knew it fit her just right, especially since this chick's pretty feisty when she's pissed. Her name's Banti Eskimo meaning 'thorn'. Meriwa (me-RI-wah) was actually used by the Eskimo as a magic name to trick evil spirits into thinking the child in question was unloved because of her rather prickly name. Perfect ne?

Well that's just about it for now people 'cause after about 12 pages worth of stuff is definitely a sign I need to get some sleep. But until then let's find out what's comin' up next why don't we? You ready? All right! Here it is then:

Next chapter:

Chapter 4: A Dog Can Do More Than Bark At Nothing

Gayle and Chevy seem to know something everyone else don't and are hell bent on keeping it that way! Will our friends' the exorcists find out the true horrors behind their undead attackers and Allen's disappearance, or will the two manage to keep them in the dark? And just what is it that Ozzy saw that puzzles him so much? Will this whole ordeal ever end? Find out next time in:

Chapter 4: A Dog Can Do More Than Bark At Nothing!! 

Get some sleep Evan!


	4. Chapter 4: A Dog Can Do More Than Bark

It's time for some kick ass action once again! And I, Blue Lone Wolf, am proud to bring it to you as best as I can. Even though you guys aren't sayin' much, the fact that some of you just might still be with me on this is really great. So sit back, relax, and let the fun begin! Oh yeah, I don't own D. Gray-Man in any way or form along with its characters and content. Be careful today, for today's chapter's rated T and up for Ozzy's mouth. In the meantime, enjoy!

"iii" speech

_iii_ thought

Chapter 4: A Dog Can Do More Than Bark At Nothing

Some few hours had passed since Ozzy had appeared with his rather nasty package in hand, his brother getting some sleep for the first time that day even though the sun was still in the sky but was getting ready to set anyway. Gayle and Chevy were next to doze off, Ozzy having conked out long since. Meriwa had refused any contact with the exorcists but seemed to force herself to deal with it anyway as she too found a spot to shut her eyes in peace. All the while, the creatures from before still had yet to show up again to cause them more problems than they already had. Then new morning came quietly and without incident. Not.

No sooner had the sun come up to give the earth its golden rays, did something in the kitchens decide to break the peaceful silence. And it all started with a yell. "FIRE IN THE HOLE!"

BOOM! A pillar of fire erupted in a shockwave of sound and heat that echoed throughout some parts of the castle, making people sit up in their beds, looking around in surprise and fright. Komui and the research teams were the first to come onto the scene to find the most unpredictable thing: the twins, cooking what they could only hope was a well-balanced breakfast. But for now, Ozzy just looked pissed while Evan was laughing his ass off. "That what so damn COOL! Do it again!"

"What? Fuck no! I told you that you put in too much you baka! Now try again but this time no explosions! Or you'll be the one to dust pan and brush up everybody's ashes when we're through."

"Yeah, yeah. Party pooper."

"Jeez. Almost took my nose off too. Damn! My face tingles now."

"What do you think I yelled for then? As cool as that was, seeing people getting burnt isn't exactly a cup o' tea. Knowing you, despite possible burns, you'd be hell bent on strangling me to death by now."

"Oh you're sayin' I'm violent now are ya?"

"C'mon! Even a senile old man would know that!"

"Hn." Ozzy said with a nasty glare but went back to fixing scrambled eggs while Evan seemed to be preparing pancake batter. The new silence stretched for a bit, the sound of sizzling eggs and a whisk the only things breaking it. "Hey should I add blueberries, strawberries or chocolate chips to these? Oh maybe bananas!"

"Hmm. I don't know. Make 'em plain for now. You can take requests later when they're all conscious enough to discern what's edible and what's not."

"Are you saying that my cooking tastes awful?!" Evan exclaimed with a look of indignation on his face. Ozzy thought this over before smirking to say.

"Maybe." This only struck a nerve with his brother, making him yell out in anger, swinging the bowl of pancake batter at his sibling's head.

"Brother!"

Lucky for Ozzy, he had an idea that his brother would do something like this which allowed him to duck away in time. "Whoa, whoa! I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"

"You better be teme!" Evan snarled before stirring the gooey liquid some more.

"And you said I was violent." The grumble was almost too low to be heard. Or so he thought, even when a rolling pin came flying down on is skull, accompanied by a screech of infuriation.

"QUIET YOU!"

For a few moments, Ozzy could swear he was seeing stars. Holding his head in agony, he managed to glare at his sibling through his pained expression. "Itai! Watch it! I need that brain!"

"Then watch that tongue!" Evan snapped, looking unusually angry for someone as naturally timid as him.

Ozzy just scoffed at this. "Che. Make me."

"You want to start somethin'?" he snapped again, letting out a nasty glare of his own at his already enraged sibling.

"Gee I don't know baka. Do you?" it was Ozzy's turn to snap, something that only made Evan's face change color.

"Teme!" he roared, the batter forgotten as he swung the rolling pin like a baseball bat, its pointed handle almost like a dulled spear head as he jabbed at his nimble opponent bounding away with simple ease. People had started to gather as the fight went on around the room. Even Kanda was fascinated how no matter where one went, the other was able to follow but unable to catch the target. It seemed to come to an end when it appeared that Evan was sure to win as he made a well aimed jab at his brother's abdomen. Grinning in his victory, Evan was about to speak when his sibling vanished in a puff of misty smoke, a piece of paper with some kind of writing on one side floated lazily to the floor.

At first he didn't say anything, but it wasn't long before he exploded in the most amazingly terrifying show of uncontrollable rage. "THAT SON OF A--! THAT… THAT… THAT GOOD-FOR-NOTHIN', _ROTTEN TO THE CORE_, _CHEATIN' **BASTARD!**_" his eyes dilated and changing color, Evan stomped out of the large hall, screaming atrocities at the walls that echoed most likely all the way into space.

A small but casual sip of what anyone could think to be coffee broke the horrified silence. All turned to find Ozzy, calm as ever and certainly without a care, standing right next to Kanda in the most relaxed posture they'd ever seen him in. one hand in his pocket, the other wielding coffee mug, Ozzy's cool expression never wavered as he brought the mug away from his face to say. "Well that was interesting. And to think it'd have taken him a few more minutes to figure it out. Oh well. I should probably see to that food… can't have you guys eaten burnt pancakes this early."

"How-? How did you-?" River stammered as Ozzy just rolled his eyes lazily at him.

"Not tellin'. My trade secret, not yours and it never will be. Deal with it. Now do you want to be fed or not?" he growled angrily, giving them all a nasty look, daring them to protest in any way.

Silence followed by nods.

"Good. Then sit your asses down somewhere and shut the fuck up. Not in the mood for your damn childish whining." He growled as he weaved his way back toward the kitchens where the fight began, acting as if it'd never happened in the first place. All were too stunned to argue or were too scared of the man to disobey, people rushing to find places to sit in quiet, the teen hiding his satisfied smirk from view as he started again on his forgotten eggs.

Chevy was next to appear as the breakfast really started to kick off, Ozzy getting some assistance from a few of the Black Order's cooks who were still alive enough to use a spatula. Yawning under his mask, the teen stumbled across the room to the order window where he nearly collapsed in his sleepy state of mind. "'Bout damn time you got up Chevy. Thought you'd died in your sleep." Ozzy dead panned without even looking the teen's way, even when he clung to the counter for dear life.

"Ha ha. Very funny, so funny I forgot to laugh. Just feed me before I give you a misdemeanor for unnecessary misconduct to your own commanding officer at an ungodly hour of the morning." Chevy's voice was deep and heavy, breaking as he gave the other teen a nasty look.

"But sir! It's not my fault you didn't fall asleep like you should have, probably staying up late to drink yourself silly." The sly look had taken over the teen's face, giving him a foxy appearance while his voice dripped with sarcasm. Chevy just narrowed his eyes at him in his annoyance.

"Shut up you. I've been sober for weeks and besides, if these people had even so much as a drop of sake, I'd have found it by now. Either that or they really know how to hide their special stuff."

"Uh huh. And I should believe you because?" Ozzy was dubious even when Chevy growled angrily.

"Just feed me dammit."

Knowing that he was purposely stalling, golden green eyes watched his half conscious counterpart as he snatched the full plate from his hands, grumbling about inconsiderate bastards as the masked teen stumbled away with coffee, pancakes with bacon, toast and eggs in hand. People shivered as his sharp eyes swept over them like a cold breeze with a wintry snap to it. But this gaze didn't bother Kanda when he finally stepped up to the plate for foreigner versus bad tempered Asian teen. Ozzy, knowing better than to do nothing, spoke up first. "What do you want?"

"Something edible if you've got it."

"Hmm. You bet sword boy."

This hit a nerve. "Are you trying to piss me off?"

Ozzy ignored this as he prepared the teen's plate, coming back about a minute later to find Kanda giving him an infuriated look. "Are you?"

"Am I what?" he answered all-too innocently.

Again, this hit a nerve. "Are you trying to piss me off for the hell of it?"

"Did you find him yet?" the question was sudden, leaving the teen confused.

"What?" now he was just lost, Ozzy's expression never changing as he said it again, drawling lazily as he did.

"Did you find him (1) yet? You know. The guy you're lookin' for."

"How did-? How did you-?"

"I just do kid. I just do. Here's your food, which is perfectly edible mind you. Now beat it before I get pissy myself. Next."

"Wait a minute! How did you know that?"

"It should be obvious but it seems not. No two things look the same kid."

Kanda just looked stunned as Ozzy's emotionless face stared back at him from over the counter, looking as if he was bored out of his skull. Finding that the teen wouldn't say anything else, Kanda gave in and took his food in silence, moving away in confusion to look for a quiet place to sit. _How did he know? I don't remember telling him anything about my past or me; much less what my plans were when I found **him**. What does that guy know anyway?_

Letting these puzzling thoughts slide, Kanda stabbed at his food randomly as he stared off into space, wondering when his next battle would be.

--**_One Hour Later_**--

"_You_ want me to **_what?!_**" Ozzy snapped viciously at his counterpart, standing some inches away, unperturbed by his nasty demand. His voice echoed off into the open sky some distance away from the large castle, as a large group of exorcists and a number of finders shuffled their feet nervously as Ozzy gave the most horrifying glares to his masked commander.

Chevy sighed but didn't let the teen's anger disturb him as he waved a clipboard at his teammate. "I said: I'm making you the head of gettin' these exo-whatevers up to speed on what's goin' on and what they can do about their new problem."

"But why me? I made breakfast and now this? Gimme a break!" Ozzy demanded in his kept rage, sounding purely infuriated. True, he'd helped out that morning with the food but obviously doing something else right off was just downright stupid to him. But it seemed that Chevy could care less.

"You'll get one when they don't get slaughtered in the next attack which could be in the next hour or somethin'. And I'm not riskin' these guys bein' in the dark all the time about this. Now do your job as a superior or your ass is gonna be inside with the half dead people." the dog masked teen said in his 'I mean business' tone, earning himself a nasty glare before Ozzy snatched the clipboard out of his hands, heading back toward the large black castle with a bit of a drunkards' stumble. Komui, who'd been behind Chevy, didn't know whether he wanted to go back inside or stay and watch the 'class' as it commenced. Finding a good rock to sit on, he found that Ozzy didn't really care either way if he was there or not.

"Dammit. Fuck, fuck dammit." Ozzy grumbled, continuing to mutter curses as he fiddled with the clipboard, looking through all the papers before him in vicious anger and annoyance. Deep in the crowd of exorcists, Rabi leaned to the side so he could whisper. "Is it just me or is he just itching to kill us where we stand?"

"No Rabi, far left, fourth row, third from the end, I'm not itching to kill you. _Yet._ The only reason I'd want to kill you is if you deliberately acted like idiots to where you'd fail this crash course as if it were as simple as breathing. And yes Komui-san, my sense of hearing is remarkably astounding. To your petty ways of thinking."

Komui's jaw only fell to the ground as he stammered in his astounded shock. "How-? How did you-?"

The response was a dead pan and uttered matter-of-factly. "One: you think too loud and two: my senses have been honed well enough to cut through titanium as if it were butter under a hot knife. Any more humanly stupid and obvious exclamations or questions?"

Complete and utter silence. A ghostly smirk made itself at home on his lips. "Good. Then we can begin."

Walking some few feet away, Ozzy looked around the small forest before seeming to notice a middle aged tree not far off. "Oi! Oi you! Yeah! Come over here will ya? Got a job for ya."

This action could only define the grumpy teen as crazy. Or at least until the tree moved in response to his voice, pulling its roots from the ground as if to walk across what little distance there was to the teen's side. As if it were a casual thing, Ozzy didn't seem at all disturbed by this phenomenon as he continued to speak to it. "Yeah that spot's fine for now. Just hold this up for a while. I'll tell ya when you can move back."

Ignoring their stunned expressions as if he was oblivious to them, he turned back with an irritated look on his face. "All right then. Since I _have_ to teach you primitive critters due to the circumstances, I'll give you the low down: I'll be teaching you about weapons and battle strategy among other battle related things, Evan will be teachin' you flower pickin' pansies about herbs and medicines that accompany various healing procedures that'll help you in, on or off the field. If you don't like it, talk to Chevy or Gayle since they seem to be the ones in charge on this, not me."

Pausing for a few seconds, he turned to pull down what looked to be the edge of a poster of some kind that he'd told the living tree to hold some minutes before. There was an intricately sketched picture on the paper's delicate surface, drawn in blues, grays and reds with hints of yellow and orange: a inked portrait of the human body, naturally a male who was rightfully given a pair of boxers out of what one could only guess to be dignity or privacy. But it looked pretty much like any other in the doctor's office, the muscles, arteries, veins and organs exposed for the world to see.

Letting this image sink in, Ozzy waited a bit before speaking again. "Obviously and clearly, this picture is of the human body, made up of particles and substances so damn small that they're invisible to the naked eye unless viewed under a microscope or given its supposed structure on a computer screen. In the next few hours or so I'll be teaching you monkeys how to tear this example to nothing more than a bloody pulp on the ground. My brother will be teaching you to put it back together. And trust me, that's one hell of a Humpty Dumpty puzzle you'll be workin' with. _If_ you're lucky enough to find all the stinkin' pieces."

As he paused, someone in their midst, though extremely nervous by now, raised his hand in the hopes he wouldn't sound ridiculous. "Um…. Sir?"

"Hm? Question?" Ozzy grunted, giving the man an inquiring look. The man gulped but managed to answer anyway. "I-I was wondering… j-just what are we going to be learning? If I may ask s-sir."

At first, Ozzy didn't do or say anything. His expression had become unreadable, as he seemed to think the question over. The silence was finally broken when he seemed to find his answer. "It would seem that some of us just want to get straight to the point when it comes to this course! The only reason I was givin' this lecture was to get you started on a few of the basics and trust me, your question will be answered shortly."

Turning around again, he lifted what appeared to be a page, the human anatomy picture folded away to reveal a different one. Only this one was what looked to be the circular system throughout the body, except it looked very different than what it should've been. "Wha-?"

"That's right. This isn't the circulatory system, where blood and oxygen's being pumped from head to toe so that you can live for another five minutes. What you see here's your _spiritual_ circulatory system, small shocks of electricity and spiritual energy flowing like a river through the body as if it were the earth itself. This system is a part of everything you see: rocks, trees, bodies of water or the bodies of people, it's there. Even the wind and sky has this sort of spirit flow coursing through it like blood. My job is to teach you not only how to discover how much of it you have, but to use it effectively against your opponents."

Giving the ground a good stomp, three separate pillars of earth rose quickly out of the ground to act as tables, allowing him to set the clipboard down in order to reach into one of his pant pockets. One the first, he set down four stones of different colors that looked more like crystals than rocks, on the second one he set down a white and a black stone which appeared to have been found in a river somewhere. On the third he only put what looked to be some kind of compass with weird writing on its sides rather than the four directions. "They might not look like much but these items will help me determine the kind of training I'll be needing to give you and in what way."

"How can you tell?"

"I knew someone would ask that. Okay on the first section are the 4-BE (2) stones that'll react to your spiritual frequency in accordance to their brightness and/or radiance so I can determine where to start you off and why. The second holds the Spinners (3) that'll tell me something I'll get into later. However the last one is probably the most important since its reaction might mean your very existence so just start prayin' that when you get to it, it doesn't mean anything at all."

People had paled at this as Ozzy started flipping through the papers on the clipboard, successfully hiding the amused smirk he had on as the first person shifted up to the first section. _This is going to be fun._ He thought while he watched the first stone light up, careful to have a pen in hand.

--**_Inside the Castle_**—

Chevy didn't know if he even wanted to go back to sleep or try and find out if the place even had so much as a beer or whiskey hidden somewhere. Watching Evan amaze exorcists and finders alike with his strange skills of medicine, the dog-masked man felt himself dozing off anyway. He knew that the five different cups of black coffee hadn't done anything for him when it came to keeping him conscious, much less aware of his surroundings. Little did he notice a certain 18 year old approaching his bed even though he had his ears trained on the sound of footsteps rather than the commotion going on at the other side of the room. "Hey. You awake?"

"Hm? Wha?" Kanda was a bit confused on why the response was groggy and rough, almost drunken compared to the day before. Not waiting on the teen, he spoke again. "I want to talk to you."

"You're talkin' to me now aren't ya? So talk." The masked teen grumbled in annoyance, trying to shut out the light with clenched eyes and a loosely positioned arm over his masked face. But Kanda didn't seem to be that indecisive.

"Not here. Too crowded."

Silence followed but then came a response. "Ah. I see. You fight the shell that holds you in but you still hold it up like a shield huh? I get it. Gimme a sec."

He forced himself to move into a sitting position before his silvery grey eyes surveyed the teen not far from him. Kanda looked like he was healing well enough, though his skin was still a shade too pale to be considered healthy. Chevy couldn't help but give Kanda a look of concern. "And to think I needed to lie down! You should be in bed yourself Kanda-san. If you keep this up, you'll just be some shadow of the person you'd been!"

The teen just glared but didn't say anything. Chevy knew by such an expression that he wasn't in the mood to be teased let alone lectured by someone he barely knew anyway. Getting up, he stomped out of the room and into one of the halls, Chevy following at his own leisure. "All right then Kanda-san. What's so important that you'd want to talk to me in private about?"

"How much do you know about this place?"

This caught him off guard, making Chevy stare at the teen as he tried to comprehend what was said to him. "What?"

"Just answer me: how much do you know about this place? This world as a whole." He asked again, truly insistent now as his voice seemed a bit strained from uncertainty.

The masked teen didn't say anything at first, mainly since he didn't know what to say at all! It was true the question was baffling but the urgency that it was inquired with was even more confusing. He definitely needed more to go on. "What do you mean 'how much do I know'? You're not makin' all that much sense kid so spit it out already."

Kanda looked reluctant but answered anyway, knowing it was the only way to get any proper answers. "Ozzy… said something to me this morning."

Chevy, though masked, looked incredulous. "Ozzy? The walkin' ice berg? You serious? That's a bit unlike him. What'd he say exactly?"

"He said… he said that he wanted to know something…. About me." Kanda said in a muffled tone, the dog-masked teen only giving him a frustrated look with confusion in the mix.

"Okay and this tells me what? Oh I know! Squat! Just spit it out!" Chevy was losing his patience now but did his best to hold back his now surfacing frustration.

"He asked me about something that only I know about even though I never told him anything! How is that possible?" Kanda watched the other teen for a response.

This certainly got his attention, rubbing his chin. "I see. So that's what happened. It's natural for you to think that you slipped up somehow but trust me, you didn't."

"Then how-?" Chevy quickly silenced him.

"It's not my place to say. And even though I know, I won't tell you."

Angry, Kanda had to speak through clenched teeth. "What? Why?"

"Just because. What he said to you was something of his mind alone to ponder on about while you try to answer the question. Ozzy's waiting for you to answer the question he's set before you, why I don't know but that guy's always been a little on the unpredictable side. But the thing is... do you want to answer it truthfully? Or are you goin' to lie not only to him, but to yourself?" Chevy waited as the teen's face became unreadable and uncertain, knowing that he was indeed trying to find the answer.

"…. I don't know…" he said finally. Chevy only sighed in defeat.

"Not my problem. It's all yours. Go on and think about it a while. For stuff like this, there's no real time limit to go on or worry about. Just answer when you can."

"But what if he doesn't like the answer?"

"There are tons of things that Ozzy doesn't like! One more probably won't even faze the guy. Now do me a favor and bother someone else will ya?"

Chevy didn't wait for a response as he walked back into the infirmary in search of his bed and his cocoon of sheets, soon finding them before instantly falling asleep. Still confused on what to do, Kanda stood in the hall staring at the floor in deep thought and oblivious to everything around him.

--**_Meanwhile,_** **_Outside_**—

Ozzy was really starting to get bored at watching person after person go by to determine the fairly important things needed for him to teach. He'd always hated teaching. Always. Mainly since he was used to a bunch of mini-sized brats throwing their boogers at him or something else relatively disgusting of that nature. He was thankful that a few of the classes he had to teach were with teens a few years younger than him or adults that were a decade or two older. Here, he had to deal with both and it was making him irritated. _Thank the gods only one more has to go through this._ He though in his well-hidden relief as said person walked up.

"Okay you, you're the last one so let's wrap it up."

"Y-yes sir." Came the nervous reply. A little surprised at this, Ozzy looked up a bit to find himself looking right at Linali, who appeared to be a bit anxious. Rolling his eyes in annoyance, he quickly snapped at her. "Oh calm down already! It's not like they're gonna jump up and bite ya."

"S-sorry! What do I do?"

"Oh brother! Didn't I explain this already? Just choose a hand and hold it over each one in turn. If they glow to a certain radiance, I write it down. If not, I just take note of it for later. Until then, just calm down and focus some energy on the hand you've chosen for this test."

"Right."

"Get started then."

Nodding in response all the while trying to calm herself, Linali lifted her right hand and held it over the first stone which was a deep red. Doing as she was told, the Chinese girl focused all that she could into her right hand, wondering if the stone would react at all. Despite her efforts, nothing happened. Ozzy just stared for a few seconds before he wrote something down. "Go on to the next one then."

Shifting a bit, Linali moved her hand over the second one, a stone of a light shade of yellow. The reaction was astonishing, as the stone's vibrant glow created shadows off the ones next to it. Ozzy, though emotionless, only raised an eyebrow as he quickly scribbled something on the paper before him. "C'mon, next one."

A little surprised at the yellow stone's reaction, Linali forced herself to move her hand off to the next one, it being a leaf green. It did react, but not as much as the yellow one did, giving off a strong but slightly dim shine from under her palm. Ozzy was already writing something when she decided she needed to go to the last one before her, the sea blue stone resting almost on the edge of the earthy table. Needless to say, its reaction could possibly rival that of the yellow if it were a bit stronger. Ozzy didn't wait for her as he moved over to the next table, still writing as he did. "All right. Over here it's the same thing only we're lookin' for a different kind of reaction. Now with the same hand, let's start again."

"Okay." lifting her right hand again but not exactly nervous anymore, Linali repeated the task over a white stone. At first, its reaction was minimal and hard to see, the stone beginning to spin a bit, almost lazily before it started to pick up speed. Moving her hand away, it didn't take it long for it to stop. "Linali-san. The next one."

"Oh! Sorry." A little confused by the first stone, Linali quickly moved her hand over the black stone where it almost immediately started to spin, moderately slow but sped up in regular bursts of speed. Unperturbed by this in any way, Ozzy was soon off to where the compass lay in wait, Linali not far behind as she watched the black rock go still as soon as her hand was gone.

"All right then. This one's real different from the other two tables. Since you guys are so damn curious about this thing, go ahead and gather around while I tell ya. But no touchin' it, you got me?"

Everyone nodded before they edged toward the earthy pillar that acted as a table for the strange device. Seeing he had their attention, Ozzy began his 'sermon'. "Okay you curious lot, I'll start with this thing: it's called a Life Compass."

"Life compass?"

"Yup. This baby's designed for the holder in mind so that people like me can determine where you fit in. it's kinda like tarot cards or palm readin', only it's with your life energy as the source of its predictions. Sound and fool proof, I've seen it make some of the weirdest predictions that'd make anyone think twice about doubtin' its ability to see beyond what's already here."

"So how does it help us in our training?" Aleister asked from somewhere in the crowd of people. Others mumbled in agreement while Ozzy just rolled his eyes.

"Well for starters, it gives me an idea of what position you're best for as a team player and for what reasons. From team leader to back up reserves, it doesn't matter. If you belong there, this thing tells me yea or nay."

"Is it accurate?"

"Hasn't been wrong so far. Or maybe it has been for a while and I don't really care enough to notice." He grumbled as he lifted his clipboard once again. "Okay Linali-san. Ready when you are."

"What do I do?" she asked nervously.

"You have to use both hands now. Focus the energy and the needle will turn. Wherever it points will tell me where you belong."

"Okay." stepping forward a bit and gripping the strange device by its oddly small handles protruding from the sides, Linali took a deep breath. The flow of energy, warm and electrifying, came as easily as before. Only difference was that it pooled into both of her hands rather than just one specific hand in general. She could only watch as the amber needle underneath the thin layer of glass started to edge its way around, going a little faster as it did. It quickly went around once to land on a robed woman with a blindfold over her eyes, a set of scales in one hand with a sword in the other. But it didn't stop there: moving counterclockwise, the needle went around twice before landing on shield of some kind. Moving again only this time clockwise, the frail looking piece of metal zoomed around twice to quickly land on a dark cloaked figure only to shoot in the opposite direction to wobble to a stop over a cluster of silver stars.

As the needle finally sat still, no one spoke as Linali set the compass back onto the table, watching Ozzy as he stared at the thing's clock-like face. He hadn't even written anything down since the needle had started to move and from the unreadable expression on his face, many doubted that he'd get around to it anytime soon. Biting his bottom lip in what they could only guess to be deep thought, he finally began to write a note or two on Linali's sheet. At last, he spoke amidst the silence. "Well… that was probably one of the _strangest_ predictions I've seen in a while…."

"What do you mean by that?"

"From what I can tell, this thing just gave rare calculation. Something I haven't seen it do in a while now."

"Why? What did it say?"

"Since you asked, I guess it wouldn't hurt if I told you. The first part came from the Blind Maiden of Justice, finding the guilty with her scales so that she can get them with her sword later. Second being the Shield, keeping the innocent and righteous from harm while the third and last seem to be the most puzzling."

"Are they bad?"

"Hmm. Not necessarily. All depending upon your path they could mean anything. The third just so happened to be the Shape-Shifter, or unpredictable situations that come almost all the time. But the last one just up and tosses the Shape-Shifter out the window just for existing on this thing in the first place."

"Oh you mean that star cluster thing?"

"That 'star cluster' is more like the Stars of Destiny. Its significance is great and shouldn't be shrugged off as a whim of any kind. My guess is that since you got both the Shifter and the Stars must mean that not only do you face constant perils or events either now or in the future, but you also seem to have some kind of greater purpose that you have to decipher for yourself."

"Can you say what kind?"

"Nope. It's your life but that's the prediction. In the meantime, we should call it a day since it's gonna take me forever to sort through all o' this damn paper work. We'll proceed with the rest of class same time tomorrow. I'll also be announcing if you guys are worth keeping around or not so think of this session as your entrance exam. If you didn't pass, oh well. If you did… hoora." He said almost tonelessly before calmly walking back toward the castle, already mumbling about how he'd strangle Chevy for making him be where he didn't want to be in the first place.

"But what about these things?"

"Just leave 'em. They'll be fine." He called from a distance, not looking back as people reluctantly followed him back into the castle. When it came to calling it a day, a lot of them couldn't help but agree. They'd been out there for almost two and a half hours and staying out there any longer probably would've been next to boring as well as pointless. So, back inside they went.

--**_With Kanda_**—

Wandering around the large castle with nothing better to do, the teen tried to keep his thoughts from wandering back to what the two men had said to him. Things were bad enough now that the place was close to being in shambles and Allen, the annoying newcomer in his mind, had yet to be located. _I bet he's lying in a hole somewhere, crying like the oversized baby that he is. What a dope._ He thought to himself as he stormed the corridors in his annoyed state of mind. It wasn't long before something quickly caught his attention somewhere at that far end of the hall, coming closer and fast. A blur of motion and color, Mugen was brought to hand to fend off an all-too-familiar attack: a giant claw bigger than any man's chest with fingertips that could possibly rival a shark's teeth or a sword's blade. In this case, that sword was Kanda's.

He could only stare in shock as Allen's oddly cold and emotionless face stared back at his, not even blinking when the two brought their weapons out of their lodged positions to where Kanda really had to jump far away to avoid another swipe. "Bean Sprout?"

This sentence, usually given an offended response, was received with a cool air and practically sightless eyes. Not a good sign. Kanda was never given the chance to say more as Allen proceeded to barrage him with a series of powerful strikes and thrust, nearly slicing the teen in half a time or two as he struggled to either block or dodge the onslaught. But either one proved to not be enough as Allen seemed to be pushing his way through the other teens' defenses, making Kanda's attempts at self defense, much less attacking, become more and more pathetic and feeble by the second. The older teen could swear he was losing the feeling of his own two hands.

Jumping away again to avoid becoming gutted or torn in two, Kanda felt himself fall backwards due to a rock the size of a small dog caused him to trip and fall on his back, barely escaped a swipe at his unshielded face. Flipping over to stand on his own two feet again, Kanda knew he couldn't fend the other teen off for long. "C'mon Bean Sprout! Snap out of it! This isn't like you!"

As Allen continued to attack relentlessly, it was definitely obvious that the younger teen wasn't listening, and his words were falling on deaf ears. Gritting his teeth in frustration not only at himself but also at the circumstances, Kanda did the one thing he hated doing the most: he ran. Quickly putting Mugen away and willing his legs to do their best, Kanda headed straight for the infirmary where a number of people were already entering from being out in the nearby woods around the castle. "Get inside! NOW!" he yelled as he ran closer and a bit faster, people truly moving when they saw the deadly claw come swinging not far behind the Asian teen.

Somewhere in the crowd, Ozzy was watching all of this unfold with a cold exterior and a miffed expression on his face. "Oh for the love of Pete." He grumbled while stomping forward to stand right in both Kanda and Allen's path.

"Get down!" he roared over the din of it all. Kanda didn't need to be told twice as he performed a baseball slide just as Ozzy raised his left hand, the palm flat. People could only watch in amazement as his eyes took on an awesome transformation: the whites changed to a pitch black, where color had been was turned into a milky white and the pupils had dilated to that of a cat's, also turned to a silky grey. White veins gave of a silvery sheen in the light, as some portions of his skin turned to a midnight black as his voice boomed through the halls. "Shadow Pulse: Level 2 activated."

Allen was getting closer and closer, claw raised to strike its new target with a face of detached insanity, now oddly elongated with eyes in the wrong shape, teeth razor sharp and a crooked smile that only proved further to those within range that the person before them definitely wasn't Allen.

Before the now deformed teen could get any closer, Ozzy's voice rumbled again as he spoke, seeming to make time stand still.

"Purify."

The reaction was instantaneous as a blast of what appeared to be black light spread almost like wild fire, engulfing everything in its path, leaving nothing untouched as it went. With it came a powerful gust surely strong enough to blow people off their feet and into the air. Screams and cries were drowned out by the wind's mighty howl only to be engulfed by an eerie silence. All anyone remembered seeing last was pure black.

Intense! I love cliffhangers like these! Gets my blood workin'! But it's late and I kinda need to sleep cause I have tests to deal with and homework I'm still tryin' to understand but doin' my best to get done anyway. Anywho, there are actually a few notes here that I should probably put down here before I rant on too much. Here they are then:

1) _Him_: to be perfectly honest, I haven't read the series far enough to know just who the hell Kanda's so worked up about finding but I had to put in here for the hell of it ya know? Hope nobody gets too riled up about it if it's a mistake.

2) _4-BE_: in short, this code means '4 Basic Elements' since the stone like crystals used in this chapter are dependant on a certain elemental energy from the user in order to glow. In this chapter, Linali's elemental specialty seems to be told mainly by the yellow, green and blue ones.

3) _Spinners_: these two rocks are meant to see if the person in question is mainly defensive, offensive, or both. White, I decided, would stand for defense while black was offense. If someone likes to kick ass all the time, I don't think that black rock's going to stop spinnin' for a while.

Well that's all for today and I'm glad that those who read this chapter and its predecessors really enjoyed what they saw. In the meantime, don't hesitate to tell me if I got somethin' wrong cause now it's really startin' to bother me. Right… before I hurt myself with such thoughts, we should see what's' up next:

Next chapter:

Chapter 5: The Truth Revealed: Ozzy's Ultimate Attack

While things are gettin' a little 'blown' away and most likely out of hand, will the exorcist group recover in time to find Allen before it's too late? Or will their new enemy get in their way more than they cared they would? Better yet, will the Noahs learn of the new predicament and decide to join all the fantastically fanatical fun that's turning everything the Black Order knows upside down? Can Chevy and his ragtag group of buddies get the exorcists on their feet in time or has their helping hand come at a time too late? Find out next time in:

_**Chapter 5: The Truth Revealed: Ozzy's Ultimate Attack!!!**_


	5. Chapter 5: The Truth Revealed

The world continues to go round and I'm still writin' my days away. I really hope you guys like what's already here but otherwise I'm pretty willin' to go back and make changes should I need to. But all you guys gotta do is tell me okay? Right on! Now that that's outta the way, I'm pleased to say that I don't own D. Gray-Man in any way or form but I'm sure everyone can tell that everything else is my oddly entertaining garbage. Rated T and up for Ozzy's mouth and other content that might not be suitable for some readers. Enjoy!

"iii" speech

_Iii_ thoughts

Chapter 5: The Truth Revealed: Ozzy's Ultimate Attack

The darkness, though it had engulfed everything like a thick wall of mist, soon faded away so those still conscious could see the results of the strange attack. Komui, being the first to get a good look at things, couldn't believe what he saw: the Allen doppelganger that'd chased Kanda toward the infirmary, was now lying on the floor like an oversized doll that'd been burnt to a crisp. Crumbly and dusty, the dead thing lay still as Ozzy walked forward, looking down on the corpse in silence. Suddenly, he kicked it, people around him protesting at the action. "Ozzy-san! What're you doing?" Linali scolded from where she stood but the teen seemed to ignore her.

"Hn. Just as I thought." He mumbled under his breath, rubbing his chin, unaware that his words had traveled through the air for those close by to hear.

"What?" it was Rabi's turn to ask the question only to be ignored as well while Ozzy shouted into the infirmary in a commanding tone.

"Oi! Chevy! Get your lazy ass over here!" Ozzy growled, seeming to glare at something behind him.

"Wha?" a sleepy mumble came over the din, the summoned teen only just managing to walk onto the scene with slumber filled silver gray eyes. "What'd you do now Ozzy?"

The teen scoffed at the question but nodded his head at the floor anyway. "Look at this."

"Huh?" confused and naturally curious, Chevy looked down at the corpse only to cause him to jump and stare almost horrified at the motionless body before them. "Wha-? What the hell!?"

"My thoughts exactly." Ozzy grumbled as his face twisted slightly to a thoughtful scowl while Chevy seemed to gap at what was on the floor. A few people, Kanda included, came up to where the thing lay only to almost gag in disgust and horror: its left arm where Allen's Parasite weapon had been, now in its true form, was stretched out in such a way that anyone dumber than dumb would know that this wasn't normal. Linali paled, Rabi appeared shocked as well as a little green in the face while Aleister looked like he was about to lose his breakfast. And just the sight of the arm wasn't the only thing to cause all of this mind you. No sir, the rest of the corpse was just as nasty.

Its eyes were completely gone, nothing but empty sockets, a toothless mouth and a nose so nonexistent to where only the nostrils could be spotted amidst the horribly wrinkled skin. Complexion completely darkened to a deep earthy brown with bits of scratchy hair with a dark tint to them, still sticking off of parts of the head, the carcass lying face up in old English funeral clothes that were still recent enough to tell the colors from the dirt that still clung to it all. And from the texture of the fabric, one could say that whoever he was, he hadn't exactly been that rich either.

Chevy seemed to stare at the thing in utter disgust. "So they're usin' corpses now are they? That's kinda gross. Makes all those damn zombie movies look like a bunch of bored teens made 'em."

"Talk about authenticity. Forget movies, this shit's the real thing and there isn't no damn virus or nuclear shit involved either. Just plain ol' black magic put to the test. Hard core stuff by the looks of it." Gayle mumbled, daring to lean forward a bit to stare at the dead thing a little better before backing away with a sickened expression.

"Was there anything inside or did you get rid of it already?" Chevy inquired, thankful to be able to turn away from the foul thing on the floor as he spoke.

Ozzy just shrugged lazily, his face a pillar of cold emotionless ness. "Eh. It was a weak son of a bitch even though it had a strong body to deal with. How the hell that works I don't know but obviously whoever's makin' these things don't care if the spirit they put in is strong enough for the job. They might just want it to work, all the time, every time."

"Wait, are you guys talking about an Akuma?" Linali asked, having walked forward a bit to get a better look at the thing lying on the floor.

The four couldn't look anymore confused as Ozzy's face became marred by pure mystification at the question. "Akuma? What the hell's an Akuma?"

The Chinese girl actually appeared shocked at the inquiry. "What? How can you not know?"

"How can I when I don't know what that is?" Ozzy snapped in annoyance, going from puzzlement to irritation within seconds. It wasn't long before Chevy finally snapped in his own irritation.

"QUIET! ALL OF YOU! That does it. Ozzy, did your attack get rid of them all?" Chevy demanded, his voice sounding almost strained from under his mask.

Ozzy just shrugged again, staring down at the dead thing with uncaring and emotionless eyes. "Those that were inside and maybe a few wandering around on the grounds. If there're others then I either missed them or they got away. Why?"

Chevy nodded at this, rubbing his chin in thought. "Hmm. Then that means that the threat's gone, at least for now. You should start to prepare a curriculum for tomorrow's classes. I'll have Evan get jump started on his own work in the infirmary. In the meantime, I'll have Meriwa take this… _thing_ to the autopsy table to be examined later. For now, I need to talk to Komui and his executives."

"Roger that." The hawk-masked teen grumbled in irritation.

Ozzy stomped off somewhere, grumbling about paperwork as he left Gayle and Chevy standing over the corpse thing to look at Komui with a looks of pure, hardcore seriousness. The dog-masked teen looked the Chinese man in the eye. "Gather your people. It's time we actually discussed things."

Komui, astonished by this sudden show of gravity could only nod as Chevy also left in search of Meriwa, leaving them all to stare in disgust and shock at the lifeless form on the castle floor.

--_**A Half Hour Later**_—

Sitting in one of the many conference rooms in the Black Order castle, scientists and exorcists alike sat side by side as they watched Chevy sit at the farthest end, eyes closed in thought. Each of the twins sat on either side of him with Gayle and Meriwa not far off. All of them had grim expressions even as Chevy finally opened his eyes and broke the eerie silence. "It would seem, my friends, that the magnitude of this situation has risen to a new disturbing height."

He watched the people around him for any responses. Getting nothing, he continued unhindered. "From the events witnessed over the past few days, all I can say is that calling for higher powers may be required to resolve this issue in a single stroke so as to avoid anymore unnecessary lose of life or much needed personnel. I'm willing to take such steps should this situation escalate further."

"But captain! Isn't taking such actions prohibited unless the situation truly demands it? I can understand your reasoning but I think that leaving things as they are is enough until we truly know what we're dealing with." Evan said in a pleading tone, leaning forward a bit as his brow furrowed to show his confusion but also his sincerity over his argument.

Chevy seemed to smirk under his porcelain mask. "Yes Evan that's what our initial protocol insists for such occasions. But I think that it's gone beyond that, so far to where we might not have noticed it fly over our heads. If one looks closely, all the signs are there for all to see."

"What exactly are you saying? That we're dealin' with some hard-ass bastard that's come to play a few mind games with us?" Ozzy growled from where he sat to Chevy's left, looking greatly irritated at having to be surrounded by so many people at once. But Chevy ignored his tone and spoke again.

"More than that I think Ozzy. More than that, so much more to where it's countless. Our opponent is quite intent on using the very people in this building for his own purposes in order to give himself the upper hand in the game. To where he has more than one ace in the hole."

"And how does your training us help against this?!" Rabi called from somewhere down the table, having stood up while his visible eye aflame with the demand for answers. Chevy kept his cool and waved for the teen to sit back down.

"It helps to where you can resist their methods of recruitment, methods that I think shouldn't be mentioned due to their extreme measure of vehemence. Understand that our presence may be the only thing holding them at bay and from causing everyone further harm or damage. But since one of theirs did attempt an attack on one of yours, I have reason to believe that our new opposition doesn't truly care much about who lives or dies but more about how he can make his work progress to beyond perfection." The teen said in a gloomy voice, as if he was regretting what he was saying.

"What do you mean?" it was Linali's turn to ask now. Chevy's silver grey eyes took on a seriously dismal appearance when he spoke.

"To start, you say that one of your own was taken by the creature and was used against you in your second encounter with it. But now, after the last two attacks by said missing person, we have reason to believe that the attacker isn't who you think it is." He said grimly, staring calmly as various people, especially those of the science teams, paled in response to his words.

"You mean that-?" the Chinese girl stammered, still trying not to believe what he was saying to them.

"Yes Linali-san. The person aka the attacker you believed to be 'Allen' is actually a mirror image, designed to act upon orders given from a more powerful other. In short, someone or some_thing_ is making actual, believably realistic copies of Allen-san." The dog-masked teen said in the same grim and serious voice as before, his eyes shining with a light that would make anyone think he was out to murder something.

The room went eerily quiet, eyes bulging and faces paled to match some of their pure white uniforms. Komui, snapping himself out of this understandable shock, was the first to dare to say anything in response to this new piece of information. "I-Is that possible? Is that truly conceivable?!"

Chevy could only nod grimly. "Unfortunately, yes. Evan?"

In recognition, Evan nodded with a gloomy expression on his normally smiling face as he started to speak. "Yes. From the past two corpses that I've managed to thoroughly examine in the past few hours, I've concluded that these remains actually used to be normal individuals that'd been taken or kidnapped over time. The first one, I've found that it used to be a middle-aged man who died in some kind of accident an estimated time of twenty years ago. The second, however, was much more puzzling."

"Care to enlighten us?" Chevy inquired coolly. Evan nodded, his face still a little sad and disturbed. Hell, the poor guy looked like he was going to be sick even when he continued to speak anyway.

"Of course. The second victim that Kanda-san drew from one of the halls was actually, or rather formally, a well-grown sixteen-year-old boy who seemed to fit Allen-san's description. Except for a few genetic details, you could say that they appeared to be a fairly perfect match to the original Allen. But here's the problem: when Kanda-san fought the second duplicate before bringing it to my aniki to deal with, the victim's altered genetic code was already breaking down. Coming apart before it really had a chance to stay together."

"Then you're saying that someone's making new copies from his DNA?" Aleister inquired, half musing over it himself as Evan nodded in response.

"Precisely. But it seems that not all of them are actually perfect. The first was obviously a poorly created one meant to _look_ and _fight_ like Allen-san, while the second one was apparently supposed to be an exact copy of Allen altogether." The teen said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"An exact copy?!" Rabi yelled again, this time in shock as he nearly fell out of his chair, a few people moving to keep him from breaking a limb. Evan could only nod again as he continued.

"Like a clone or somewhat like my duplication technique. Only once one's made, it stays rather than, like in my technique, hangs around unless I say so. These 'clones' are designed to be perfectly flawless replicas of the real thing in every way possible except for the personality or mental structure. The creator could care less about those two factors when it comes to creating an army of disposable soldiers." Evan said in his still informative voice, making him sound more serious than his personality let on.

"Right then. So our task now is to find out where the real Allen is being held and maybe rob out new opponent of his source of information. From what I've read in Komui-san's files on Allen, I'd say that replicating that arm of his might be difficult to where only so many copies can be made at once. Should our opponent use various kinds of approaches that is." Chevy said with finality, gathering up his papers as he moved to rise from his seat.

But a voice from the crowd stopped him. "Now what I've been wondering is… just who is it that we're dealing with?"

"Kanda-san?" Chevy inquired, actually sounding curious.

"You heard me. You're hiding something and I want to know what it is. Or are you going to hide it from us like I'm sure you're doing with a lot of things?" Kanda growled from his seat, giving the dog-masked teen a nasty look, daring him to lie.

All who were in the room watched the dog-masked man at the end of the table as he sat quietly staring back into the cold, hard eyes of Kanda Yuu, who didn't even blink while the air became thick enough to cut. Finally, without batting an eye, the dog-masked teen answered in the same cool tone he'd used the entire time. "That information, _young man_, is for me and my few assembled colleagues here to know and not you. Such things as that were never meant for your ears to receive for should they do hear what you want them to hear, I might take measures to ensure that information doesn't spread like the nasty little rumor it might become. Now if you'll excuse us, my teammates and I have work to complete so that you lot can live to see another day."

Without another word and in a viciously cold manner, Chevy exited the room like he'd seen something he ought not have and was determined to get as far away from it as humanly possible. Meriwa and Gayle were the next to leave, the girl looking as though she'd walked into some confusing conversation while Gayle appeared to be thinking deeply to himself. After they seemed to vanish, Ozzy didn't wait long to make his exit, grumbling under his breath about even more paperwork and the impossibility of ever getting a good nap that day.

Amidst the shocked silence and with a sad look on his face, Evan finally got to his feet quietly, letting the chair scrape against the floor with a loud squeak as he collected all of his files and other important papers. Just as he was about to leave, Linali's voice stopped him. "Evan-san?"

Turning around to look at her, his face still marred by a suppressed sadness, Evan gave her an inquired expression. "Hai?"

"Is what he said true?" the girl asked hesitantly, but seemed very desperate for more answers.

Reluctantly, he nodded. "My race is very secretive when it comes to certain kinds of information. The only reason we're sharing certain parts of ourselves with you is to ensure your survival in this matter. That's all I can say about it."

"Why in the hell did you call me 'young man'?" Kanda snapped from where he sat, glaring at the other teen for answers. Evan's face should have said it all as he spoke once again.

"Not only is my race secretive, but we're also very ancient. Our oldest, the one who leads us, is going on to being 1,853,729 years old sometime during your next winter and I doubt that he'll stop living some time after that. Now if you'll excuse me, I have reports to finish filling out before I begin my next class on medicine and herbal remedies." He said quietly before finally leaving the room, leaving them all once again, in well-earned shock.

--_**An Hour Later**_—

Lunch hour had come to the castle and people were gathered in the mess hall to chat and get some real food in their stomachs. The twins were helping cook again like they had some hours before and promised to help bring dinner out should they be needed to do so. From what they could tell, cooking seemed to bring the smile back to Evan's face while Ozzy just appeared to be calmed by flipping pancakes or stirring batters. It was obvious that cooking food for others acted as a good distraction for them when things got too crazy for anyone to deal with. Amidst it all, it didn't take Kanda long to track Chevy down as he sipped his coffee through a straw from under his mask. Somehow, his food was gone. "I want to talk to you."

"_Everyone_ wants to talk to someone kid. It just depends on whether or not they want to listen to those who want to talk." The dog-masked teen growled.

Much to his annoyance, Chevy noticed that Rabi, Linali and Aleister had also gathered around him, with River and Komui to boot. Sighing at the fact that he knew, at this point, that his escape was very unlikely, Chevy spoke again. "All right, all right. What is it now that you guys want to know so bad?"

"How old are you really?" Komui demanded, giving the teen a serious look.

This question truly caught him off guard, making Chevy blink in his honest confusion. "Huh?"

"You heard him. How old are you?" River growled, giving the teen a look of his own in turn.

Chevy blinked again, truly curious now. "What makes you ask this of me?"

"Evan was most informative on how one of yours is older, a _lot_ older, than he probably should be." Aleister said with a snarl, a bit angry at being deceived.

The dog masked teen only stared back calmly, the look in his eye truly serious by now. "Hmm, I see. Knowing Evan, he was most likely very straightforward. He hates lying to people he considers friends but a lot less when dealing with someone who he finds to be extremely vulgar or to be the opponent. And from what you've already said, I'd say he's informed you of our lifespan."

"Are you goin' to answer or not?" Kanda demanded, growing to be irritated again.

"To be honest with you, my age shouldn't matter but since you're so curious about it… I guess it wouldn't hurt if you knew." He paused, as if in thought before he spoke up again. "As I'm sure you've noticed by now, my comrades and I are fairly different from everyone else in this building. Mainly due to the fact that our genetics are very different from a human's but not enough to where we don't look like one. How or why this is possible is still being theorized as we speak but one thing is clear: my people aren't normal and we accept that. But humans like yourselves back home weren't so hospitable on this count and it cost us many of our kind just to make ourselves invisible in their eyes."

Though his voice was calm and collected, his eyes gave him away. Tired and filled with an almost infinite sadness, the silvery sheen had vanished before coming back as he brought himself out of his thoughts. "We're used to being in the shadows, popping in and out of the scenes and times of day as time goes by. Don't feel sorry for us when it comes to this. Humanity lost their chance to do so a long time ago." The man said calmly as he collected his things and rose from his seat. He only paused to say one last thing to them. "Oh yes, I almost forgot! I'm closing in on my late sixties. Now if you'll excuse me."

His voice was hushed, as if to hold back flowing emotions from pouring out as he left, soon disappearing down one of the halls. As they watched him go, a number of them could swear that he faded away rather than turned a corner.

As daily routines kicked back in again with Evan in the infirmary giving his class while Ozzy spent most of the day either napping or trying not to lose his temper at one of his own students out on the castle grounds, things seemed to be as normal as they could get. Gayle was still trying to keep up with inventory numbers even though Meriwa was there to help him; Chevy soon became not the only one to be swamped with paperwork of all kinds from all over the place. Instead of goofing off like most people expected him to, the man just seemed to accept the new work before turning back to what'd been working on a few seconds before. Like Komui, he asked for a fresh mug of coffee now and again but didn't use all the alone time to do something other than work.

The day seemed to pass them by quickly, the sun disappearing in the horizon as exorcists and finders alike settled down for another night with their new guests. Evan and Meriwa didn't take their time in collapsing, Ozzy just finding a good position only to not move after that. Gayle, who was sent to find Chevy some time before, came back to report that the man was still working and would most likely fall asleep somewhere in the middle of it. When a few asked about this, his only response was: "don't worry. Happens at home all the time. We're used to it."

Leaving it at that, lights were shut off, doors were locked and beds creaked under the weights of their contents as eyes closed and minds began to wander. None of them couldn't help but wonder: _is this ever going to end?_

--_**The Next Morning**_—

Rabi yawned, stretching lazily as he heading toward one of the bathrooms that were still usable on that particular floor. But he couldn't help but pause when he heard voices coming from one of the empty rooms that had a barely open door, allowing him with get a limited view of the interior with his single eye. What he found definitely caught his attention: a very miffed looking Ozzy had been speaking, and he hadn't caught much of what he'd said until now.

"—And I'm telling you we can't stay here! We have to go out and see just how far those sick bastards have gone into this world so we can reverse any kind of the major damage they've caused!" the teen growled in an angry voice, sounding on edge.

"I'm not saying that what you have in mind is a bad idea but we have to think this over more than once! We can't just leave these people to fend for themselves, especially when you guys are in the middle of training them in our ways of fighting." Chevy said, Evan and Gayle nodding in understanding.

But Ozzy just seemed to sneer in doubt at this. Rabi had never seen anyone look so irritated before. "Them? Fight like us? Ha! Don't make me puke! They'd reject it as soon as they knew what we're truly capable of! Humans have done it hundreds of times before and I'm certain it won't stop now."

"C'mon Oz! You can't honestly think that all the time. We could at least let them to get to know us first." Gayle said almost desperately in the other teen's direction, while Chevy nodded sagely at his words.

"You have a good point Gayle but I can't help but think that what Ozzy is saying is true. Our differences are just too great. Their acceptance of us so far has been lucky enough as it is but…. But if we give them a reason to hate or mistrust us then it's game over. Which means that we shouldn't jump to conclusions." The dog-masked teen said in a stern voice, silvery grey eyes giving Ozzy a look of warning.

"Exactly! Which is why--!" Gayle exclaimed but what cut off by a slightly irritated twin.

"Keep it down! We can't have them hearing you! Sheesh! And you say I'm loud." Evan scolded, giving the dragon-masked teen a look of mock irritation.

Gayle just gave Evan a playful scowl but didn't say anything as Chevy spoke again. "We'll just have to leave this subject for later. Though Ozzy's point about just how far these things have gone truly is a major issue and letting them run rapid would be very irresponsible of us."

"Then what do we do?" Meriwa, who was out of sight, said from wherever she was, Chevy rubbing his chin as he surveyed his comrades before speaking again.

"Hmm. Evan, have you managed to get it working yet?" he inquired.

"It works but the signal is so scrambled I sometimes think it's gonna make me go deaf after just a few seconds of trying to find something close to a good channel. There's too much interference. The energies are almost too chaotic here for the radio to handle, much less try to use to make a distinct message with." Evan said resignedly, sounding unusually tired as he spoke. Chevy seemed to accept this answer.

"I'm sure you and Ozzy will figure something out. In the meantime, we should get moving before anyone notices that we're in here. Tell me if you guys get anything okay?" he said kindly, seeming to shuffle through some papers in front of him.

"Hai." Gayle and Evan seemed to say in unison.

"Hn. Whatever." Ozzy grunted in his hidden irritation.

A chair scraped against stone floors as Chevy spoke again. "Okay then, let's go."

Seeing that the so-called 'meeting' was over, Rabi had to almost literally scramble away to go unnoticed as he desperately searched for a place to hide. Finding such sanctuary behind a stone pillar, the red head flattened himself in its shadow as five sets of footsteps faded away. Or at least, so he thought. "What are you doing back here Rabi-san?"

"GAH!" he cried, nearly jumping out of his skin as a curious looking Evan suddenly spoke from overhead. As the one eyed teen tried to catch his breath, the other teen in question continued to watch him innocently from where he was. It wasn't until Rabi took a closer look that he realized that something was very, very off: Evan, innocent or not, was sticking _out _of the pillar as if it wasn't even there. Almost like he was sticking his head out of a window! Eye widening in shock, Rabi pointed while trying to stammer out a very understandable question. "Wha-wha-what the _**HELL! **_How're you _doing_ that?!"

Evan blinked before looking around, apparently confused in as to what the teen was referring to. Luckily it didn't take him long to notice the reason behind Rabi's surprise. Smiling with the same innocence, Evan answered happily. "Oh this? All of us can do this! Why?"

"Y-y-you're sticking _out_ of a _solid __**stone**_ _**pillar**_! Don't you think that's a little, gee I don't know, _abnormal!?_" the red head shouted as he tried not to let his surprise reel out of control over the fact that a living, perfectly normal looking human being was leaning out of a perfectly solid object.

However, this subject didn't seem to bother Evan in the slightest, which only bothered the one eyed teen even more than ever as the other teen smiled kindly. "Just one of those things Rabi-san! Oh yeah now I remember! Did you have any special requests for breakfast?"

This question stunned the red headed teen, amazed at how easily the other changed the subject. He had no choice but to answer. "Uh… no but thanks."

"You're welcome! Bye now!" Evan said in a cheerful tone, disappearing mere seconds later. Rabi couldn't help but sweat drop at Evan's happy response, his smile almost like a source of light, only in the form of emotions. _He' a lot like… no. It's not possible! Is it?_ Shaking the thoughts away, Rabi walked as quietly but as quickly as he could down the empty corridor, unaware the knowing eyes watching him as he went.

--_**With Chevy**_—

He'd noticed the change some hours before, a chill going down his spine as he headed for the cafeteria. Despite his intellect, he was truly starting to wonder if his teammate's noticed the change as well. Of course, Evan acted like the child he seemed to be while Ozzy just looked either really bored or really miffed. Gayle didn't seem to actually react that much, but he did seem a little on edge for some reason. Meriwa… well… he didn't know about her since she was elsewhere… doing girl stuff. He sweat dropped at himself as he sat down at one of the empty tables, flipping a manila folder open and scanning the contents.

_It's been almost a week and we still have yet to find anything on this Allen kid or where they took him._ Chevy would've rubbed the bridge of his nose if his mask wasn't in the way. He scratched the top of his head instead. _Could it be that they've already transported him to __**that**__ place? Could they already have gone back? No… they need on of __those__ for something like that. But where is it? They'd need one to get here so… where? Where could it be in this world and why come here? Is there something he's looking for specifically? Or is he just having his 'fun' like always? What are you thinking…? Marquis…._

Thankfully, Linali, Rabi, distracted him and Aleister as well as Kanda (who was 'convinced' to join them due to constant prodding but soon dragged over) sat in a few of the spots around his. Blinking at these slightly suspicious actions, Chevy didn't move, watching them out of the corners of his eyes as Linali spoke first. "Did you find anything on Allen-kun yet?"

The dog-masked teen sighed, shutting his eyes and shaking his head before opening them again. "Sorry but no. We haven't found anything yet. He could be anywhere by now and we have absolutely no idea where to start looking. That is… if there's anything left to find…."

"So you're giving up?!" she demanded, sounding utter appalled by this.

However the dog-masked teen just waved her down in a tired fashion. "No we're not. We just… we just don't have enough data, enough resources. I have hardly any idea what _hemisphere_ we're in right now! And even if I did know I doubt it'd do much good 'cause then I _still_ wouldn't know where to start looking for this guy. I'm sorry but… unless I have the proper data, there's hardly any chances of us actually being able to look for your friend."

Silence fell for a few moments before the Chinese girl perked up with a triumphant smile on her face. "I know! Maybe my brother can help!"

This statement left Chevy confused as he asked. "Your brother? How so?"

"He's the head of this place remember? He has all the maps and he and River are in charge of the communications system! If we can get that running, maybe we can use that to look for Allen-kun." She exclaimed happily at her own genius.

Chevy nodded, scratching his chin with a thoughtful look in his eye. "That sounds like a good idea but I doubt it'll work."

"Huh?!" Linali sat frozen, stunned at what the teen had just said.

Rabi couldn't hold back for another second as he nearly slammed on of his hands onto the table. "Why not?"

"The enemy you're facing here is probably extremely different to what you're used to be dealing with. I doubt your system will be able to track down something that powerful and that dangerous just by one single scan. It's highly improbable." Chevy said in a matter-of-fact tone, fatigue and annoyance laced into his words as he spoke.

"Then what can we do? Sit around and do nothing?" the red head demanded angrily, his single eye glaring at the masked teen on the other side of the table.

Chevy seemed to think this over for a moment or two. "Well… there is one thing you can do."

"What?" nearly all of them demanded almost desperately, intent on helping the masked teen in finding their friend.

The teen's expression (or what you could see of it) became grim and almost eerily serious at he spoke again. "You can tell me where you first saw these things and just how it was that Allen-kun came to be in their possession in the first place."

A nervous silence fell over the group, but Linali nodded with a gulp, preparing to speak first.

--_**One Hour Later**_—

Chevy stared at them thoughtfully as Linali fell silent, having finished the explanation on how the whole ordeal had begun. Kanda and Rabi had interrupted to tell their own parts with Aleister doing the same now and again. Mulling over what'd been said, the dog-masked teen's eerily prudent eyes staring at them with an air of solemn calculation, the four exorcists waited for him to answer. They only had to wait a little while longer before he finally chose to speak for the first time in a while.

Chevy, looking thoughtful, nodded at them. "Hm. This information… is useful. It will assist in determining their access point and any possible locations therein. Now if you'll excuse me."

A bit stunned at the response, Rabi's emotions flared to life as he quickly stood up to glare at the other teen, practically slamming his palms down. "Wait a minute! What about us? What do we do?"

"Yeah! At least fill us in here!" Linali demanded, wanting to look as serious as Rabi was at the moment.

Sounding and probably looking extremely tired, Chevy sighed in defeat before retaking his seat again, the folders flopping onto the tabletop in an exasperated move. "I can't keep giving these explanations over and over so I'm only going to say this once and just once. Understand?"

"But--." The red head began before Chevy's hard voice and sharp gaze cut him off, quick to silence the teen across from him.

"No buts. I'm tired and I haven't gotten any proper sleep in months compared to now so don't try and push your way past me _boy_." He said through possibly gritted teeth, giving his voice an intensely angered tone.

This silenced them all, especially Rabi, who looked a bit shocked at the angered tone in the other teen's voice. But he no choice but to keep his opinion to himself as Chevy hesitantly continued to speak. "Your involvement in all of this was a coincidence, as well as those of this world. Nothing more. Getting more and more involved may cause more damage than good at this point. All I can say is that our teaching you our skills for the future is the only way we can help you defend yourselves against them should they return and my comrades aren't here to help in the fighting. And as for your friend, my comrades and myself will use the information you gave me so we can locate him and return him to you."

"But what if something goes wrong? What then?" Rabi pressed on, his anger still running high despite the other teen's harsh words.

Chevy just shrugged. "Then both of our sides will have to deal with it."

"W-what?" Rabi could only stammer in astonishment. Had he really just said what he thought he'd said?

The teen seemed to roll his eyes at the teen, his next words uttered with pure annoyance and contempt. "Oh please! My people have been at war for years and whatever you've been through is nothing compared to the things I've been forced to deal with. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to. Good day."

With that, he got up and left, folders and all. The four could only sit and wonder what the hell was wrong with the person who'd just left the table.

--_**With Chevy**_—

As he walked away, the gears in his mind were already turning at their greatest of speeds while they broke the new information down to store for later. _There's no doubt now… that's his way of things…. I thought for sure it was him but why here? What's there to gain? Is that kid's ability so special? It's past time to do something. I'll need to consult the others with this._

The dog-masked teen soon vanished from sight, his path through the large castle completely unnoticed by any who might've stopped him to ask him where he was headed. Coming to stand on the edge of the castle grounds (literally), Chevy stared with tired eyes of silver grey. The wind ruffled his hair as he stood there, looking out at the clouds and open skies stretching beyond what the normal eye could see. Knowing no one could see him, he took a few more daring steps and vanished over the edge.

--_**With Gayle**_—

"Hm?"

Such was all the teen could say in response to having lost track of his superior's life force, wondering just where the teen in question could've gone to simply drop out of range in such a way. Hesitant to think that the dog masked teen had been eliminated somehow, the dragon masked teen tentatively went back to counting supply boxes for his inventory report he needed to turn in within at least an hour.

_He probably went to find a bar anyway._ And that's all the teen really thought of the incident after that.

The same was for the twins, only Evan seemed to be the most concerned about their dog-masked superior. Ozzy on the other hand, as usual, didn't seem to give a rat's ass about what the teen was doing and why. He figured he had a pretty good reason compared to some of the excuses he'd heard the man say to avoid getting beaten to a bloody pulp.

But sadly, no one of the Black Order was informed of the teen's disappearance until Komui, along with Linali and her friends approached Evan about it. The conversation went as such:

"Evan?" he called, managing to catch the teen between check ups.

Perking up at his name, said teen halted and turned with a curious expression on his face. He waited for the man to approach before he said anything. "Hai?"

"Have you seen Chevy anywhere? We've been looking for him so that we could discuss about what to do in finding Allen." Komui said informatively, truly hoping the teen could give him a few answers.

Surprisingly, Evan didn't have to think all that hard as he responded almost too cheerfully. "Oh Chevy? He left."

"N-nani?!" Kanda managed to say for the group, since the others were a bit too shocked by this new information to say anything.

Evan nodded, looking serious despite his happy-go-lucky attitude. "You missed him by at least half an hour. Could've talked to him then."

"W-we know that! But where'd he go?" Rabi demanded, having just now found his voice again.

Evan just shrugged, actually looking clueless on the subject. "I don't know. He didn't talk to me or anyone else I don't think. First he was here then poof! Gone like the wind itself."

"Why would he leave?" Komui inquired, knowing full well that the teen in question didn't really have much reason to leave in the first place. Or at least, in his mind anyway.

Evan only shrugged again, not seeming all that bothered at all. "No idea. Maybe to find a bar… if there is one that is. Either that or he went to try and find out where the outbreaks started. But your guess is as good as mine."

"Oh geez! We have to track him down? Oh this stinks! Did he ever do this to his parents when he was little?" Rabi growled angrily as he tried not to give into the urge to strangle something that was probably not even alive.

At these words, Evan's expression changed completely as he stared at the one eyed teen in confusion. "Huh? I'm sorry but… what?"

Thrown off guard, Rabi turned his attention back to the other teen. "What do you mean?"

"That word. What's it mean?" Evan inquired, sounding truly curious.

However, Rabi was still clueless in as to what the other teen meant at all. "Word? What word?"

"Parent. I've heard it a couple times before but… it's meaning is elusive. Care to explain it?" he asked innocently, both his voice and expression showing just how curious he was on the subject.

Their looks of shock were enough to make the teen even more confused, his expresson clouding further as he stared back at them nervously. All he had to their gazes was: "what?"

Omg that took way too long for even my taste! But that's one hell of a way to end a chapter right? I know I've been holding out but it's almost test week and it's sending me up the wall here! That and I have a project due, lab hours to fill, assignments I just need to get done but didn't… yeah you get it. I'm a busy girl but don't worry! I'll do what I can to get more of my awesome work done and posted over the summer. If my job allows it first --;;. Yeah… life sucks. Luckily for me, there's no notes to deal with today so that's a load off. In the meantime, let's see what's next okay?

Next chapter:

Chapter 6: Missing Dog: Have You Seen Him?

Chevy's gone somewhere unknown but why? And where? And why now? Does he really know more about what's going on than anyone else? Or is it something a bit more obvious? While that's going on, it seems that Evan has asked a rather strange question of his own. And it's thrown the exorcist gang off their feet! Can they give him a good answer or is it just so damn beyond them that it's sad? Find out in the next installment of '_Demons Actually Do Live In Dark Places_' in:

_**Chapter 6: Missing Dog: Have You Seen Him?**_


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